Free Realms launched on April 28th. I got an email from them (just because I created an account, not because I'm on anybody's press release list) announcing that a million people had registered on May 18th, twenty days later. The two million email came out on June 5, eighteen days after that. And I just saw an announcement that it's now hit three million, only seven days after that. I wondered after the first announcement if it was going to eclipse WoW eventually. It's accessible. It's got variety. It's well made. And it's free. If it even keeps close to this pace, it'll have more players inside of a year.
So what does that mean? I'm sorry, but I don't really know.
I've said for a while that core gamers are a niche. And whereas we used to be a niche because we played video games, we are becoming a niche because of the types of games we play. So it could be argued that Free Realms and the Wii are succeeding are succeeding by playing to the broader market. But it could also be argued that Free Realms is free. :)
Microsoft and Sony have always been making attempts to be more family friendly and get to the mainstream. With Free Realms, Sony appears to have a strong franchise to leverage in that space. They've already announced that they're going to put it on the PS3 as well. If Sony's rumored price cut in August includes a Free Realms bundle, maybe they'll be able to make some headway with the thing. Then again, bundling an online only title could be difficult. But if Sony is getting retailers to stock the "PSP go", which downloads all it's games, cutting retailers out of the profitable part of the game business, they can probably pull off a Free Realms bundle.
I'm working on my shirt for PAX 2009. It has occurred to me that while my previous design might have got me punched by people who didn't get it, my current design may get me punched by people who do get it.
For reference, (and because I still enjoy it) here's the old design.
Only one person on the streets of Seattle gave me any guff about it, but let it go when he saw the back. No one but gamers will even care about my new shirt.
It's about a game. It contains a major spoiler. And it is a tragic and hurtful lie.
I should get back to it. I should have a first pass at the artwork by my next blog entry.
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