In 2026, Tamagotchi celebrates its 30th anniversary — a milestone that invites reflection on a seemingly simple plastic egg that sparked one of the most peculiar cultural frenzies of the late 1990s.
Launched by Bandai in Japan on November 23, 1996, the handheld digital pet quickly became a global phenomenon. By mid-1997, over 40 million units had shipped worldwide, and cumulative sales eventually surpassed 100 million by 2025, placing it among the best-selling toys of all time.
The madness was immediate and intense. When Tamagotchi reached the U.S. and Europe in 1997, demand exploded: stores faced constant sell-outs, children queued for hours, and secondary markets saw units resold at multiples of the $15–18 retail price. Schools banned the devices due to disruptions—kids sneaking peeks during class, arguing over care strategies, or grieving sudden "deaths."
Funerals for deceased Tamagotchi became a bizarre ritual: some children held ceremonies, wrote eulogies, or buried the gadgets in shoebox coffins. Theft reports surged, and the toy even inspired media coverage of "Tamagotchi trauma" as virtual neglect triggered real guilt and sadness.
What made Tamagotchi revolutionary was not advanced technology — there were no neural networks, no internet, just basic LCD pixels, simple rules, and three buttons. The creature "lived" in real time: it aged, got hungry, sick, or lonely whether the owner was paying attention or not. Neglect led to decline and death, usually within days or weeks.
This created an unprecedented illusion of agency and responsibility. Owners felt genuine guilt for forgetting to "feed" or "clean up" after their pixelated pet. Tamagotchi introduced pseudo-agency on a mass scale: a digital object that demanded care and evoked emotion, long before AI chatbots, companion robots, or virtual influencers.
Psychologically, Tamagotchi was a breakthrough. It demonstrated that people bond with artificial entities not because of intelligence, but because of perceived subjectivity. The creature "behaved" like a living thing — needing attention, expressing needs, aging, and dying—creating attachment and accountability. This illusion of agency laid the groundwork for today's emotional AI companions.
The toy also foreshadowed social dynamics now familiar in digital ecosystems. Children formed communities around Tamagotchi: sharing growth stage tips, trading strategies, and comparing pets. This collective experience prefigured modern online fandoms, app-based communities, and social features in AI toys.
Ethically, Tamagotchi raised questions that remain urgent. What does it mean to "kill" a digital being through neglect? Who bears responsibility—the user or the creator? These debates, once dismissed as childish, now echo in discussions about AI companions for children, therapeutic robots, and emotionally intelligent chatbots.
Three decades later, Tamagotchi's legacy is evident in a booming industry of AI-powered emotional companions and robotic pets. In China, where loneliness among youth is rising amid demographic shifts and urbanization, the AI toy market has exploded. Valued at approximately 24.6 billion yuan ($3.49 billion) in 2024, it is projected to reach 29 billion yuan ($4.1 billion) in 2025 and could approach 85 billion yuan by 2030, according to industry forecasts.
Some estimates place the broader global smart/AI toy market at $34–42 billion in 2025, with projections exceeding $200 billion by the early 2030s. Chinese manufacturers dominate, leveraging low-cost supply chains, accessible large language models (LLMs), and rapid prototyping to flood markets with affordable, interactive companions — talking plush animals, responsive dolls, and pet-like robots that remember users, express emotions, and provide companionship.
While Western toy makers grapple with ethical concerns around AI in children's products and face regulatory scrutiny, Chinese startups ship millions of tangible, voice-enabled companions. This asymmetry highlights a broader shift: the West debates the risks of emotional AI, while China scales production and deployment at unprecedented speed.
Tamagotchi was never just a toy — it was a prototype for a future where artificial beings integrate into human emotional life. From pixelated eggs to sophisticated robotic companions, the core insight endures: people crave connection, even with the artificial. Thirty years on, that little egg has hatched an industry poised to redefine companionship in the digital age.
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