Ecofreak
05-15-2009, 10:05 PM
E3 Update: Number of Accounts, but no PS3 release date yet.
From Kotaku.com (http://kotaku.com/5277829/free-realms-still-growing-insanely-quickly)
First they hit one million players within weeks of release. Then they hit 2 million a week and a half later. Where does the Free Realms population stand right now?
I stopped by the Sony Online Entertainment booth (to see if I could get a little mining in) and talked to Senior Producer Andrew Sites about the future of the game, which I will discuss a bit later. My main concern was their ever-growing horde of players. Where do they stand now? As of last night, the population has reached 2.5 million players, and they are still growing at a ridiculous rate. That's 500,000 new players in a week.
Could a free-to-play family-friendly massively multiplayer online game from SOE surpass World of Warcraft in users one day? At this rate it's looking like a definite possibility.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free Realms (http://www.freerealms.com), Sony's free MMO with a collectible card game and kart racing was launched ~3 weeks ago. With its eminent release to the Playstation 3, I thought it'd be appropriate to start a thread.
According to Joystiq.com (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/15/free-realms-hits-a-million-players-in-18-days/#comments), 1 million accounts have been created since its launch. Not sure how much money has been made off of this so far, and how active those accounts still are after the initial interest but that's a promising start. The low-entry cost and difficult economy are probably helping to drive interest in the economically stressed time.
It's specifically designed for the very casual market, that some CAGers may find interesting and worthwhile.
How the Game Works:
- Leveling up to a certain point is free but anything after that requires payment.
- And there will be micro-transactions to further "augment" the experience.
- According to the first interview, 60% of the game is available to free players
- Those who pay a $5/month subscription fee will have access to additional areas, new jobs, weapons, and booster packs for the collectible card game.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/03/reerealmspremium580.jpg
Here are some videos for your enjoyment (not sure why there's not showing on the post...).
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/creative-director-free-realms/49159
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/become-a-free-realms/49180
From Kotaku.com (http://kotaku.com/5277829/free-realms-still-growing-insanely-quickly)
First they hit one million players within weeks of release. Then they hit 2 million a week and a half later. Where does the Free Realms population stand right now?
I stopped by the Sony Online Entertainment booth (to see if I could get a little mining in) and talked to Senior Producer Andrew Sites about the future of the game, which I will discuss a bit later. My main concern was their ever-growing horde of players. Where do they stand now? As of last night, the population has reached 2.5 million players, and they are still growing at a ridiculous rate. That's 500,000 new players in a week.
Could a free-to-play family-friendly massively multiplayer online game from SOE surpass World of Warcraft in users one day? At this rate it's looking like a definite possibility.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free Realms (http://www.freerealms.com), Sony's free MMO with a collectible card game and kart racing was launched ~3 weeks ago. With its eminent release to the Playstation 3, I thought it'd be appropriate to start a thread.
According to Joystiq.com (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/15/free-realms-hits-a-million-players-in-18-days/#comments), 1 million accounts have been created since its launch. Not sure how much money has been made off of this so far, and how active those accounts still are after the initial interest but that's a promising start. The low-entry cost and difficult economy are probably helping to drive interest in the economically stressed time.
It's specifically designed for the very casual market, that some CAGers may find interesting and worthwhile.
How the Game Works:
- Leveling up to a certain point is free but anything after that requires payment.
- And there will be micro-transactions to further "augment" the experience.
- According to the first interview, 60% of the game is available to free players
- Those who pay a $5/month subscription fee will have access to additional areas, new jobs, weapons, and booster packs for the collectible card game.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/03/reerealmspremium580.jpg
Here are some videos for your enjoyment (not sure why there's not showing on the post...).
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/creative-director-free-realms/49159
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/become-a-free-realms/49180