The MMO LEGO Universe from 2010 was intended to appeal to a younger audience. It becomes problematic when you cannot ensure child and youth protection because genitalia appear everywhere. Followed by one of the most notable reasons for an MMO shutdown, there was a quiet comeback in 2024.
What kind of game is LEGO Universe? The MMO for the popular LEGO universe promised at its release in October 2010 the great freedom to build anything that one can build with bricks. There were various factions as well as themed worlds and an overarching battle against the Maelstrom and its minions.
The responsible parties at LEGO primarily had a younger audience in mind when creating the MMO and therefore put a strong focus on child and youth protection. It’s unfortunate when numerous players actually utilize the promised freedom to build all sorts of things that their brains find amusing…
Unlimited Creativity on the Internet Often Backfires
Why did it come to an end? When LEGO Universe was shut down in January 2012 (not even a year and a half after the launch), the responsible parties blamed unsatisfactory revenues for the premature end.
In 2015, a former developer from the team provided additional context: Apparently, so many players wanted to implement building projects in the shape of penises that the moderation effort was enormous. At some point, other players could only see the creations made by others if they were manually approved by a moderator. This became too costly in the long run.
One employee was even nearly fired because he built a penis on his property. At that time, a demonstration was taking place among the developers to introduce the game to a group of children. One of the kids inadvertently landed in the private area and witnessed the creativity of the designer.
What is the current status? A few years ago, fans behind Darkflame Universe announced (source: Reddit) that they were negotiating with the responsible parties at LEGO about an open-source variant of the MMO. In December 2021, according to X, the emulator code was disclosed. In 2024, there was then an official but quiet comeback with a new website thelegouniverse.com and a fresh channel on YouTube.
Since the restart, several updates for the revival of LEGO Universe have been released. The project is funded through donations. The game download is free.
Whether another wave of penis creations awaits there, needing to be kept in check by a patrol of moderators, we cannot say for sure. Maybe the internet is just more mature now… Hahahahahahahaha. Sorry. A game that consciously avoids male genitalia as well is the quasi-sequel to Conan Exiles: Dune is not sexy and this affects the “equipment” of male survivors.
