Kid-friendly free MMOG Free Realms continues to scoop up users by the millions, having recently passed the three million mark less than two months after launch.
Oh wait, now I get it. It’s Free Realms not just because the realms are free in the abstract sense, but because the game is literally free to install and play. In any case, free certainly is a popular word these days (as it’s always been), because Sony’s family-friendly MMOG just announced that it’s gotten even more popular in recent times by hitting the three million player mark, a scant seven weeks after its launch.
Sony Online Entertainment’s John Smedley estimated that about 500,000 people join up every week. So, among the dozens of free MMOG offerings out there, why does Free Realms have such appeal? “SOE worked diligently over the past four years to ensure that Free Realms would take the online space by storm,” Smedley said.
Maybe it’s because Sony keeps offering free (there’s that word again) stuff every time the game hits another million. This time around, Sony’s giving out the “3M Pet Party Pack,” which will let you outfit your in-game pet in ridiculous things like an argyle sweater.
Or it could be that Free Realms is actually good. When we last reported on the game hitting the one million player mark less than a month ago, Earnest Cavalli wrote that Free Realms “surprisingly offers enough quality content to please both discerning parents and wide-eyed youngsters.”
Release a pack with a keyboard to go with that sweater and you’ll have another user to add to your millions, SOE.
Published: Jun 12, 2009 07:57 pm