Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) know a thing or two about making popular and addictive games, as the developers of EverCrackQuest look to have come up with another winner in the shape of Free Realms. First featured on TSA eons ago, Free Realms is one of three MMO’s in development by SOE for the PC and exclusively on consoles on the PS3, the other two being The Agency and DC Universe Online. Back in April around the same time as the PC launch we got chance to have a look at the range of mini games featured in the title, and people must have liked what they saw, because over a million people signed up within eighteen days for the free to play MMO.
The rate of growth didn’t stop there however, because during a Q&A session at San Diego’s recent Comic-Con event came the news that almost five million people have now signed up. SOE’s President John Smedley went on to point out that micro-transactions where behind the success of the game. The use of micro-transactions appears to be a cornerstone of Sony’s long term business plan, as subscription based gaming falls out of favour, it is the same strategy that Sony employ in the PS3’s Home.
Although the PC version has been available since April, there is still some time to wait before we can get our hands on the PS3 version with Q4 being the expected release date, so if you want a piece of the action head on over to www.freerealms.com or take a peek at the trailer below:
Source: Digital Spy.
Zorkal | 28/07/2009 08:14
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16 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
I quit WoW a while ago..can’t wait for this..i won’t touch it unless its on my ps3 though ^ ^
Triggerhappytel | 28/07/2009 08:23
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388 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
“Free Realms is one of three MMO’s”
MMOs.
I quite like the look of this game. I don’t play MMOs and don’t really want to, but the idea of a watered-down entry in the genre appeals quite a bit – I don’t have time for a proper MMO, but I might for a kid-friendly version.
I hope it makes its way across to PS3 this year.
shrimpeh | 28/07/2009 09:30
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325 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
I signed up but never got round to actually playing. Will check it out sometime but no doubt I’ve forgotten my login details.
Cjdamon042 | 28/07/2009 10:38
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509 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
I played the beta and it was alright, but then soon stopped playing (generally happens with me and MMOs; I lose interest). The only thing I felt was wrong about it was how pointless everything seemed. Now that’s probably because it’s aimed at kids so it’s extremely casual, but I felt there was no purpose to what I was actually doing. But it’s great for a free game
spooner_22 | 28/07/2009 10:55
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1184 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
This doesn’t interest me. Looks too childish.
hazelam | 28/07/2009 13:15
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3951 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
i could see myself playing this once they finally get it out on ps3 but they’re taking they’re sweet time with it.
have they done any work on the ps3 version yet?
not much i bet.
TctclMvPhase | 28/07/2009 13:54
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818 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
Is that Q4 fiscal of calendar year?
I actually played this a bit on computer. The cart minigame was quite a bit of fun, but I never got into much else…then again Im not really one for the MMOs so the fact I spent three hours on it is pretty amazing in itself. I look forward ot the PS3 release to give it another go.
paxpacis | 28/07/2009 16:08
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561 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
If you sign up for the PC version, can you take the settings/scores/etc to the PS3 when this version is (finally) here?
yogh_wayne | 29/07/2009 01:02
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2852 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
Five millions signed up, but how many actually still played after one week?
AlexRoz | 29/07/2009 05:09
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38 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Yeah… I signed up, played for 30 min, then went back to WoW