# Petz

Petz is a series of single-player video games dating back to 1995, in which the player can adopt, raise, care for and breed their own virtual pets. Developed by PF.Magic, original Petz (Dogz and Catz) has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. The series has grown to over 22 million copies as of 2011 since coming under Ubisoft.

## Development

The original Petz games — Dogz: Your Computer Pet and Catz: Your Computer Pet — were developed by PF.Magic, released in 1995 and 1996 respectively. They reused the graphics engine used in the game Ballz. Rob Fulop developed the first title in the series, Dogz: Your Computer Pet, following the controversy surrounding his previous title Night Trap and with the desire to make a game that was "so cute and so adorable that no could ever, ever say it was bad for kids". He claims to have consulted a shopping mall Santa Claus to understand "exactly what kids wanted" who informed him that puppies were a popular gift request every single year, leading to the idea of a virtual puppy.
After earning revenues of $8 million in 1997, PF.Magic was acquired by The Learning Company's Mindscape division for $15.8 million in 1998. In 2001, Ubi Soft (Ubisoft, since 2003) acquired the entertainment division of The Learning Company, granting Ubisoft exclusive publishing rights to 88 titles, including Dogz and Catz.
Ubisoft would publish Catz 5 and Dogz 5, in 2002, as the last games following the original style, before putting franchise on hold for three years. After releasing Dogz and Catz for the Game Boy Advance in 2005 and 2006, Ubisoft announced their intention for a "revitalisation" of the series, in direct response to the success of Nintendo's Nintendogs. Many of the successive games were localised games from Japan or Europe in origin and were simply rebranded with the Petz name.

## Animals

The initial games were limited to dogz and catz, but additional animals were also introduced. These animals include Pigz, Bunnyz, Monkeyz, Dolphinz, and Hamsterz, some of which received their own games.
Users learned how to reverse-engineer the system, and began producing additional breedz, toyz, playscenes, clothes, and developer tools for the games, as permitted by PF.Magic, Mindscape, and Ubisoft.

## Games

| Game | Developer | Publisher | Release date | Platform |
| Catz and Dogz: Your Virtual Petz | PF.Magic | PF.Magic, Virgin Interactive Entertainment | 1995 (Dogz; PC)1996 (Catz; PC)1999 (GBC) | PCGame Boy Color |
| Oddballz: Your Wacky Computer Petz | PF.Magic | PF.Magic, Virgin Interactive Entertainment | 1996 | PC |
| Catz and Dogz II: Your Virtual Petz | PF.Magic | PF.Magic, Mindscape | 1997 | PC |
| Catz and Dogz 3: Your Virtual Petz | PF.Magic | PF.Magic, Mindscape | 1998 | PC |
| Catz and Dogz 4 | PF.Magic | Mindscape Entertainment | 1999 | PC |
| Catz and Dogz 5 | Studio Mythos | Ubi Soft | 2002 | PC |
| Dogz | MTO, Backbone Entertainment | Ubisoft | 2005 (GBA)2006 (DS) | Game Boy AdvanceNintendo DS |
| Catz | ImaginEngine, Powerhead Games | Ubisoft | 2006 | PCNintendo DS |
| Hamsterz Life | Digital Kids [Wikidata] | Ubisoft | 2006 | Nintendo DS |
| Horsez | Lexis Numérique [fr] | Ubisoft | 2006 | PCGame Boy AdvanceNintendo DSPlayStation 2 |
| Petz: Dogz 2 and Catz 2 | Digital Kids | Ubisoft | 2007 | PCNintendo DSPlayStation 2Wii |
| Petz: Horsez 2 | Phoenix Studio | Ubisoft | 2007 | PCNintendo DSPlayStation 2Wii |
| Petz Vet | Sensory Sweep | Ubisoft | 2007 | Game Boy Advance |
| Petz: Wild Animals: Dolphinz | Magic Pockets | Ubisoft | 2007 | Nintendo DS |
| Tigerz | Magic Pockets | Ubisoft | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Bunnyz | Digital Kids | Ubisoft | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Monkeyz House | | Ubisoft | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Horse Club | | Ubisoft | 2008 | Wii, PC |
| Petz Rescue: Ocean Patrol | Magic Pockets | Ubisoft | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz Rescue: Wildlife Vet | | Ubisoft | 2008 | Wii, Nintendo DS |
| Petz Rescue: Endangered Paradise | | Ubisoft | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz Sports: Dog Playground | Ubisoft Montreal | Ubisoft | 2008 | WiiMac OSMicrosoft Windows |
| Dogz | Gameloft | | 2008 | N-Gage 2.0 |
| Petz: Dogz Pack | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Dogz Fashion | | Ubisoft | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Catz Clan | | Ubisoft | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Crazy Monkeyz | Y'sK | Ubisoft | 2009 | Wii |
| Petz Fashion: Dogz and Catz | Powerhead Games | Ubisoft | 2009 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: My Baby Panda | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2009 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Hamsterz Superstarz | | Ubisoft | 2009 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Hamsterz Bunch | DK Games | Ubisoft | 2009 | PlayStation Portable |
| Petz: Dogz Talent Show | | Ubisoft | 2009 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz Nursery | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2009 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz Nursery 2 | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2010 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Horsez Family | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2010 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Catz Playground | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2010 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz: Dogz Family | | Ubisoft | 2010 | DSiWare |
| Petz Fantasy: Moonlight Magic | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2010 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz Fantasy: Sunshine Magic | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2010 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz Fantasy 3D | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2011 | Nintendo 3DS |
| Petz: Puppyz & Kittenz | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2011 | Nintendo DS |
| Petz Beach | Ubisoft | Ubisoft | 2014 | Nintendo 3DS |
| Petz Countryside | | Ubisoft | 2014 | Nintendo 3DS |