Over 2 million now served in Free Realms
by Krystalle Voecks 
May 28th 2009 at 8:30AM
Filed under: New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Casual, Free Realms
As a testament to the power of fun, in less than two weeks, SOE has managed to add another million accounts to the already extant one million Free Realms accounts. With the recent blitz in advertising, including two television spots, Free Realms has managed to heavily gather the targeted tween market they were after. According to their information, 75% of the registrations are users under age 17, and 46% under 13, they're definitely making great strides into making SOE a superstar name in the youth gaming market.
As part of the celebration to mark the 2 million accounts line, SOE notes that all current players will receive a "party pack" bundle of in-game items to help celebrate. John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment further remarks on the explosive growth of Free Realms: "In less than a month, Free Realms has captivated a core player base of tween and teen gamers, while also strongly resonating with MMO gamers. We wanted to create a game to play with our families and are excited to have hit the mark with our intended audience." At the rate this is growing, we suspect they'll be marking many more millions in the months to come. We're also curious to see what the success of Free Realms will mean for the development of future SOE MMOs.
As part of the celebration to mark the 2 million accounts line, SOE notes that all current players will receive a "party pack" bundle of in-game items to help celebrate. John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment further remarks on the explosive growth of Free Realms: "In less than a month, Free Realms has captivated a core player base of tween and teen gamers, while also strongly resonating with MMO gamers. We wanted to create a game to play with our families and are excited to have hit the mark with our intended audience." At the rate this is growing, we suspect they'll be marking many more millions in the months to come. We're also curious to see what the success of Free Realms will mean for the development of future SOE MMOs.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Lethality said on 8:42AM 5-28-2009
I'm not sure how Smedly thinks that Free Realms "resonates with MMO gamers" There is nothing here to hold a mature gamer's attention for more than an hour or two total.
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Lemmo said on 10:43AM 5-28-2009
I dunno. I've dropped CoH for it right now.
I confess however, that I generally only have a few short hours at a time to play games these days, and my attention span is that of a goldfish. So to hop in and do some minigames, get some job levels and quit is generally enough to entertain me right now.
It's very extra-casual, but games are games.
UltimateQ said on 11:17PM 5-28-2009
I'm 24, I play free realms. I have several hours under my belt. I will agree, it is a very casual game, but it's also very polished. The combat while simplistic can still be challenging, and the mini games are a blast.
It's a simple enough MMO that my 59 year old mother can even play it, yet its complex enough that it can keep my attention. So kudos to SoE for putting this together.
Pingles said on 8:40PM 5-29-2009
Cancelled Warhammer. Why? Spending my time in Free Realms.
Why?
I'm having fun. That's why I play MMOs.
Holgar said on 9:00AM 5-28-2009
Considering the advertizing they are pouring on 2 million accounts isn't all that impressive.
Impressive, but not nearly as impressive as getting 2 million premo accounts.
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Myria said on 9:04AM 5-28-2009
With baited breath I await next month's inevitable announcement of six billion Free Realms accounts.
Blizzard must be shaking in their boots.
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Jack said on 9:23AM 5-28-2009
Blizzard more likey smiling there butts off, like they have 12 Mil Paying Costumers!
Halldorr said on 10:09AM 5-28-2009
12 million ever, I have huge doubts about Blizzards subscription numbers. Also, over half of their subscribers are from Asia where the payment model is much different.
Hardy said on 9:24AM 5-28-2009
This is totally fake. They playing with the numbers!
Free Realms sucks, it's not hardcore and it won't last a year.
It's too kiddie!
WoW it still better then this game, cause they are in direct competition with each other.
It controls badly, and the graphics look bad.
Um... If anyone can think of any other troll topics for Free Realm posts, by all means add to this list.
Free Realms is a good game for what it's trying to do.
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Then Gabe said on 9:29AM 5-28-2009
Hear, hear! Your last sentence sums it up perfectly.
Guess what everyone who's complaining about Free Realms? You're not its target audience. Its target audience consists of young gamers and the parents or relatives of young gamers. I have a 10 year old brother who was given an account by my parents and they asked me, age 27, to play with him. Know what? We have fun doing so. Is it a hardcore MMO I could play every day? Of course not. But it is exactly what it's trying to be; a casual game marketed to kids and families.
Temploiter said on 9:47AM 5-28-2009
Free Realms may be great, but we have no idea as to how many subscribers it has because there is no trusted transparent reporting mechanism for sub numbers. Calling people "trolls" who want more transparency in the industry and the industry's media is just perpetuating the problem.
Halldorr said on 10:11AM 5-28-2009
@Hardy: Don't forget the pedo argument, Thac0 should be around soon to share that with us.
@Temploiter: I agree that there needs to be legitimate reporting for numbers, I don't feel many report them properly. Blizzard is a big one I am pretty sure fudges the numbers. Would be nice if there was a standard way of reporting the numbers that was validated.
Tyranor said on 10:38AM 5-28-2009
Blizzard cannot possibly "fudge their numbers". Activision Blizzard, as well as its publisher VU, are both publicly traded companies. That makes faking your numbers not only nigh on impossible, but also phenomenally stupid.
That doesn't have any impact on this story however. 2 million accounts in about a month is pretty good growth, even if only a fraction of those players ever log on again.
THAC0 said on 2:55PM 5-28-2009
@ Halldorr >_< I know you love me!
Kamokazi said on 12:57PM 5-29-2009
@Tyranor
There is a big difference between 'fudging' your numbers and faking them.
Faking is making them up, which as you said would be completely illegal as a publicly traded company. (Not like it's stopped a lot of other, larger companies from doing it.)
'Fudging' is toying with the figures to make them look as good as possible without lying, ESPECIALLY for their stockholders. This is common practice.
I haven't personally gone over any Blizzard financial reports (I would be shocked if any of us have), so I don't really know to what extent they are being fudged, or even what the 12 million figure is labeled as. "Active paying subscribers", "Active Paying subscribers last quarter/half/year/total"? I really could care less. Even throwing out the whacky Asian market, WoW is still FAR and away the most popular MMO in the US and Europe....no one can deny that. It doesn't really matter if they have 12 or 11 million..no one else is even close.
I really don't understand why anyone is trying to compare the two. Throwing out the completely different payment model, the games are hardly similar. The combat is only about 1/3rd of Free Realms' total content, and is greatly simplified, even compared to WoW. (Seriously, each combat class has FOUR abilities).
Thraay said on 10:11AM 5-28-2009
Transparency in a industry where information on ones subscriptions can mean life or death for the company. It's NOT EVER going to happen. The best guarded secrets of most MMO companys is how many subscriptions they have. That is vitial life giving information and if everyone had access to it then it would be easy for any company to come along and pull subscriptions from another companys game that is doing good.
No, I highly doubt you will ever see a time where the industry is transparent. Subscription information can generaly make or break a game.
On the topic of Free Realms, I am glad the game is doing good. Its a game designed for the casual tween and teen market and it looks like it is going for a home run.
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Temploiter said on 12:18PM 5-28-2009
How are subscription numbers for MMOs any different than published subscription numbers for the New York Times, or the Box Office numbers for a film studio, or the Nielson Ratings for a TV Network? These are all "make-or-break" numbers for these industries yet they are reported.
Alot of these companies are publicly traded, or subsidiaries of publicly traded companies, so shareholders have a good argument to demand these numbers. But beyond that, the industry media should be demanding these numbers so that they can be more than just propogators of press releases from studios.
Wjowski said on 10:39AM 5-28-2009
More like a testament to the power of free shit.
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Firebreak said on 11:05AM 5-28-2009
I love it when the WoW fanboys come out to play. I love it that Free Realms is doing well and I hope it continues to do well, I would love to play it with my son when he is old enough. I don't think that this or any game can be a WoW killer as the only thing that can kill WoW is blizzard. However this game has potential to post some really impressive numbers. It is hitting an age range that is not over saturated and is hitting it hard. Unless SOE does something dumb then I expect to see this game to be very impressive.
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Shane said on 11:10AM 5-28-2009
I actually cancelled all my other MMOs and play Free Realms strictly now. With only a few hours throughout the week and a little more time on the weekends, it's a perfect game to hold my attention. The minigames and little things about the game can occupy the amount of time I have available for it. I can't sit in WoW for hours on end raiding and running dungeons. So Free Realms works for me.
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