A few weeks ago the numbers came out that SOE’s free-to-play, browser based title , Free Realms had surpassed the 1 million registered user mark. Yesterday, Sony Online Entertainment stole the spotlight once again, by announcing that Free Realms’ growth isn’t slowing any signs of stopping, as they’ve skyrocketed right on by the 2 million registered user mark. Not only are these numbers downright impressive, the marketing and demographic data to go with them is nothing short of jaw dropping. It looks like the Denver based dev team working on Free Realms nailed it when they set out to target the 10-14 year old group, as SOE reports that 75% of players are under the age of 17, and 46% under the age of 13. If that wasn’t enough to uncork the champagne, it looks like Sony might have just found appeal in the highly elusive female demographic, with the company claiming that 1 in every 3 Free Realms players is female.
“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,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “We wanted to create a game to play with our families and are excited to have hit the mark with our intended audience.”
So what’s going on here? Why has Free Realms started out with such a bang?
First and foremost, Free Realms includes simple mechanics, with a very, very low barrier of entry. Basically all you need to get up and running, is a windows based machine (although it will run on Parallels and Boot Camp for mac users, I wasn’t able to test VMware), and a browser. Browser based gaming is continuing it’s upswing, and I’m more than certain industry experts are certainly going to point to Free Realms’ success in future PowerPoint presentations. Rated at E10+, the game is marketed at the 10-14 age ranged demographic, but this low target group can also provide hours of fun for those much older.
One of Free Realms’ greatest draws is the casual format. Players, myself included, can log on or off at any time, and not be lost in what you were doing or where you where going. How many times have you pushed an extra hour out of your ‘regular’ MMO, just because you knew you weren’t going to have a clue as to how to get back to such and such a place and do so and so for this or that quest? Right. Me too. Jobs don’t take endless hours of grinding, and the hours of game play logged from your first level to last are relatively light, yet still challenging and fun. Free Realms provides a safe environment, encouraging exploration, and perhaps most importantly, the game is solo friendly. As a matter of fact, all content, both free and paid is playable, and can be accomplished without ever talking to, or playing with another player, should you so choose. Raids are fun, but there’s bound to be some frustration when one player doesn’t know their role. Not the case with Free Realms.
Speaking of raids, personally, I believe that Free Realms is exactly the type of MMORPG that kids should be playing, most probably with parents in agreement. Parents, how many times have you heard over the years, “I’ll get to my homework later, my guild is doing a raid in a few minutes.”, or better yet weekends spend alone in a room or basement because players have the innate feeling that others are leveling up faster than they are, and they’re going to be left in the dust? Oh wait, have I just crossed the divide from kid to adult excuses here? Not that I’ve personally ever spend hours pouring over guides to dungeons, grinding out my herbalism to have the appropriate potions ready for Sunday night’s raid, and missed a family event just to level up one type of character simply to start all over again with a different one so that I could play a different role in group play.
What SOE has done here is really managed to land a title in that perfect sweet spot between truly addictive, yet something that I enjoy so much, I really don’t mind shelling out a few bucks here and there to enjoy even more. Add the Topps trading card element, the ability to capture in-game movie and post directly to youtube, and the coming soon port to the PS3, and Free Realms may just be the flagship of free-to-play on a massive, commercial scale, produced by a major brand title that the industry has been in dire need of. And although according to Nielsen, television viewership is down, did I mention that they’ve already got a network commercial spot running, with more scheduled?
Is Free Realms a WoW killer? I doubt it. Can Free Realms blow the doors wide open on an entirely new untapped avenue of gamers? Looks like they’re doing a darn good job so far.
Tags: free realms, john smedley, Sony Online Entertainment, teen gamers
Free Realms = New Runescape
Simple as that.