SOE's Free Realms

[Cuppycake]

Here's another one too - first 20,000 people to register:

Game Hunters - Free Realms Giveaway - USATODAY.com

[Zarcath]

Originally Posted by Cuppycake

Here's another one too - first 20,000 people to register:

Game Hunters - Free Realms Giveaway - USATODAY.com

Thanks Cuppy, got one from them.

[Utnayan]

Originally Posted by Gnome Eater

yeah no offense but who exactly listens to the gaming press? I would rather listen to word of mouth from gamers I trust

Unfortunately even that is now being invaded on too with viral grassroots.

But I agree with everyone else on the press subject. You might be able to get away with it on a console, but PC gamers are more detailed in what they will purchase. And seriously, after seeing the Empire: Total War reviews and what actually came out on the market, I am pretty sure everyone now knows with 100% certainty that press reviews are rewards for advertisement dollars.

Anyway, I see a lot of hijinks ahead for this game, but really nothing more or a real reason to pay the cash. Of which without that it really isn't going to draw in revenue - just a prediction - since most of these style of revenue generators fall on their ass pretty quickly.

Edit: Also, I think the PC is a poor platform choice for this from a business perspective. Just from the looks, it would most likely do better with more anime Asian art and sending it away to the PS3 instead to gauge how something like this might effect the Japanese market. (Trying not to sterotype) It might also work better as a scaled down PsP/Nintendo DS title with Wi-fi capability. But I just do not see the targeted age range sitting at a PC playing this.

[Gwen Rockpounder]

Originally Posted by Utnayan

But I just do not see the targeted age range sitting at a PC playing this.

Then you need to go spend a few minutes looking at usage numbers for Club Penguin, Roblox etc and realise just how many kids of that range are doing exactly that.

[Utnayan]

Originally Posted by Gwen Rockpounder

Then you need to go spend a few minutes looking at usage numbers for Club Penguin, Roblox etc and realise just how many kids of that range are doing exactly that.

Can you link those? I have never even heard of those games before.

[Manatra]

Originally Posted by Utnayan

Edit: Also, I think the PC is a poor platform choice for this from a business perspective. Just from the looks, it would most likely do better with more anime Asian art and sending it away to the PS3 instead to gauge how something like this might effect the Japanese market. (Trying not to sterotype) It might also work better as a scaled down PsP/Nintendo DS title with Wi-fi capability. But I just do not see the targeted age range sitting at a PC playing this.

The PC is a great platform for this. It has high market penetration, and unlike what you said, children are more than willing to sit down at a PC and play their favourite games. Many of my cousins and nieces who are in the 7 - 10 age bracket beg to be let on the computer to play their childrens webgames when they visit (I forget the names of the games).

[Gwen Rockpounder]

Originally Posted by Utnayan

Can you link those? I have never even heard of those games before.

As has been said in this thread a few times, people like you won't have done I have a soon to be 12 year old son so I've seen a few games come and go on his laptop.

Club Penguin : Gamine Expedition: Club Penguin Is Now the Second Most Profitable MMOG and Extremely Happy Feet: Disney Acquires Club Penguin For Up To $700 million for now, Disney paid $350m up front for CB and options for up to another $350m if it hits certain targets. At the point of purchase it in 2007 it had 700k paying subscribers. Other links are suggesting they had revenues between $50-$150million in 2008 which suggests roughly 1-3m paying subs.

Can't seem to find much info on Roblox, I know my lad has been playing it for a year or so and it seems 1/3 of his class dip in and out of it as well. When the Lego MMO is close to launch I presume their lawyers will be taking a really close look at it though, it has more copyright infringements going on than a torrent site

Anyways, thanks for the USA Today link, laddo is in Free Realms beta as we speak

[Utnayan]

Originally Posted by Gwen Rockpounder

Then you need to go spend a few minutes looking at usage numbers for Club Penguin, Roblox etc and realise just how many kids of that range are doing exactly that.

Nevermind - doing some research on my own on this one: With regards to Club Penguin.

First: Disney bought this out from New Horizons and immediately incorporated a Nintendo DS version. Which was probably their best idea. This will not have that, although they should hopefully already be targeting a portable platform if they know what is good for them in just trying to stay even with competition. Secondly, it has over 5 years of product recognition and now also has the Disney brand name. A market brand name much more suitable for kids. Third: 90% didn't pay. And last, is a pure web browser based game with a very low level entry barrier. Meaning they do not have to go out and purchase a retail copy (Which with free realm, I am unsure if they have to do that either - but it is client based)

You are kind of comparing apples to oranges here because this doesn't resemble the same product you stated. Correct me if I am wrong here, but I didn't see that.

The revenue this game is bringing in currently is around $40 million a year which would equate to an MMORPG with around 200k subs given current subscription rates. But that is with a portable system tie in (DS and Computer) and over 4 years of service. It's going to be hard to break into that and take market share from Disney. 200k stays afloat, but are not very profitable unless they slim down production teams quite a bit (Ala Planetside / Vanguard) but we see what happens when that happens.

I think the biggest thing to remember is this isn't a web game. And retail/installed PC titles for kids have a MUCH lower market penetration, especially when the leading competitor is from Disney on a web based game with a portable system to boot.

Edit: You beat me with the stuff I saw too

I still believe that way though.

[Gwen Rockpounder]

Suggest you scroll up a bit as I replied while you were typing from your notes

Those revenue & sub numbers are from the pc version only. And from what ive seen of FR and CP, they both have pretty much the same "Click your browser to launch the game engine" type gameplay so I disagree with the apples & oranges, it's basically the same thing. However FR's game engine looks a fuckton prettier which is going to be a huge selling point for them IF they can get punters attention. Penguin managed it before the Disney buyout for a decent amount, Disney then seemed to make their numbers boom upwards with their name recognition. Sony needs to advertise the piss out of it in the right places to make a dent.

One thing CP had going for it though was the sheer amount of content they kicked out every month, new items to buy for ingame currency gained from playing games etc. I presume Sony will have done their homwork (surely?) and will know constant ongoing content updates is the name of the game, however in this genre issuing a cowboy hat with a bell on it one month and a arrow sticking out of it 2 months later is considered suitable

[Utnayan]

Originally Posted by Gwen Rockpounder

Stuff

Well, we remember what happened last time the notes were out. A game failed horribly and the owner of the company turned out to be a heroin addict.

It doesn't play in the browser, it is a standalone Windows-only client for now.

I saw that on the first page, and this could mean a variety of different things but it does mean that it doesn't play in the browser which will require an installation of some sort. If you have to buy a retail box, or download a client, anything that makes it harder to get into a game or requires more hardware; it's going to be a problem for their entry into the market. Translated: Much different than a web based browser game.

If it is simple, you still have a problem with SOE in one regard. This isn't going to be a huge profit maker, and will be lucky to break even, at least for the first couple years. As seen with other titles, SOE has a tendancy to throw things on Pet Project status (Planetside, Vanguard) and development, patches, and content additions are so slow that people lose interest quick. I do not see a lot of people behind this 6 months post launch, which leads me to believe less content. Although it could work in their favor as well - it doesn't take 4 developers to make a bunch of haircut graphics.

In the end, it will be another gimic game to throw in for mass effect to continue justification for the all access pass. (You can be sure they will add it - it would be ridiculous not too)

Edit: You could almost say this is a US version of Maple Story with a lot more features and a 3D graphics engine. But this shows where I am coming from.

Korea since 2002, 200 thousand subscribers (concurrent users), 14 million subscribers (total)
Japan since November 2003, 9 million subscribers
China since December 2004, 25 million subscribers
Taiwan since July 2005, 3.5 million subscribers
Thailand since August 2005, 550 thousand subscribers
South East Asia (mostly Singapore and Malaysia) since June 2005, 550 thousand subscribers
North America (Global) since May 2005, 3.5 million subscribers

The Asain market accounts for over 80% of the people playing it. They also have a DS version coming because they realize the value.

Hence why I think this would be a poor market in the US. They should have targeted a portable system, or if they wanted to stick PC based, test marketed it over in the Asian market first to realize a better profit scheme.

[Cuppycake]

I have a couple keys to give away - PM me if you're interested.

Edit: all gone. Sorry =(

[Draz]

Originally Posted by Danth

You're right on both counts Ninen. I was being snide, but it is nice to see a major studio putting actual effort into something other than trying to copy/topple Blizzard. I was immediately reminded of Runescape because it does well for itself despite having numerous features that supposedly 'can't' work in today's market (for example, equipment loss upon death). That's a game that I've long wanted to see the major studios pay some respect to.


Danth

Hey maybe if you sign your name to the bottom of your post, they wont have to look 2 inches to the left of the post and see your name there again.

[Zarcath]

I'm impressed, game is pretty polished

[Ninajrr]

After watching the walk through on Gametrailers.com, I am completely convinced that this game is going to do very well.

[Pointyboot]

please PM me if any of you has an invite =)