SuperPoke! Pets creator 'working out the details' on post-closure access

To say even that SuperPoke! Pets fans are "pissed" is an understatement. (Seriously, just look at the comments on our first post regarding the sad news.) SuperPoke Pets and SPP Ranch players' rage at Slide's shuttering at the hand of Google has made headlines of nearly every major news outlet, and finally some details regarding Slide's response have come to light.

Namely, CNN reports that Slide and Google representatives have responded to complaints concerning players' hard-earned cash pumped into the now-defunct game. "One thing you can't do [with virtual goods] is bring them home and keep them forever," Slide's communications team wrote on the SuperPoke! Pets forums in response to complaints.

While Slide did say that it's "working out the details" on how to make some of the games' content and items available outside of the game, it also compared digital pets purchased with real cash to Halloween costumes, according to CNN. "You purchase it to dress up and enjoy the experience, but likely don't wear that costume day in and day out, or for every Halloween thereafter," the team wrote. (Um, was I the only kid who had to wear the same costume for a few Halloweens?)

Net Jacobsson, a former Facebook executive and adviser to companies like CrowdStar, told CNN that refunding players with their hard-earned, spent digital cash is far from simple. "The accounting issues can be massively complicated," Jacobsson told CNN. "They've already counted it as revenue. They've taxed it. Refunding $20 would cost more than $20, not to mention the man-hours involved in dealing with it."

CNN recalls that, when games like Pirates Ahoy! and Gangster City shut down, creator Playfish allowed players to take their earned currency into a new Playfish game and offered free incentives for the games' fans to enjoy new Playfish games. However, players wouldn't exactly have any other Slide games to go to. So, why not herd the disgruntled players into one of those shiny new Google+ Games with either some free in-game cash or other incentives? Or, here's just a thought: Bring the games into Google+ Games already.

How do you think Slide and Google should handle the unfortunate situation? Sound off in the comments. 35 Comments