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Sony boss: “we have to do better” with DC Universe and The Agency …

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:03:07 +0000

Sony Online Entertainment is the second largest MMO publisher in the world, responsible for mammoth sized titles such as EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies, and now Free Realms. Sony Online Entertainment’s boss John Smedley talks about some of the changes made regarding quality control of its products.

As mentioned, SOE has been responsible for many MMOs in the past, but now has its sights set on two significant titles that should make waves next year in the MMO space – DC Universe Online and The Agency. SOE made headlines with its highly successful Free Realms MMO earlier this year when its user base reached 10 million, matching World of Warcraft’s base.

Granted, Free Realms uses a Free2Play (F2P) model but that is still a major achievement considering other F2P MMOs fail to even get close to that kind of user base. Making a F2P business model work can also be challenging, but SOE has gained recognition by showing that its achievable with the proper incentives in place.

Massive Online Gamer honored John Smedley as the most influential person in MMOs in 2009 in its Top 20 list due to SOE’s business success with Free Realms. The 2010 magazine issue of Massive Online Gamer ranked Smedley once again as the most influential bringing high visibility to the genre with DC Universe Online. He took the top spot from Rob Pardo of Blizzard, who ranked at the top of the previous two years’ lists.

According to an interview with Kotaku, Smedley indicated that quality is paramount to him and SOE. In the past SOE was criticized with how it handled The Matrix Online (PC), an MMO with incredible promise that suffered due to major quality issues.

DC Universe Online (PS3) is currently in beta and will officially launch early next year and The Agency (PS3) will release during the second half of next year. However, Smedley revealed that he decided to delay DC Universe Online for a year-and-a-half because he wasn’t satisfied with the quality of the game.

There was a moment in time in our company where we looked at our own stuff with a clear eye and saw we have to do better. DC Universe was held for a year-and-a-half from when we wanted to launch it and now I’m very happy with it.

The MMO publisher is not done yet as Smedley teased earlier this year that a sequel to PlanetSide (first MMOFPS created) is being crafted currently. In addition, there have been hints regarding the next EverQuest game as well.

The New York Times reviews Free Realms | Massively

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 02:03:08 +0000

These realms may not be completely free, but darn if the New York Times loves them anyhow. It’s a little strange to see a major publication like the NY Times reviewing Free Realms, let alone any review for an MMO from any outlet. Still, the fact that SOE’s little free-to-play game-that-could smacked down the one million accounts mark in record time probably has a little to do with this much attention.

As far as reviews go, this one is highly positive and praising of both Free Realms and SOE, and its not very surprising at this point. Just about everyone has had nothing but good things to say about the title — not that any game is without its faults, especially at launch.

The message the NY Times’ review ends with is one we agree upon. Free Realms is definitely a triumph for the company that lost much of its EverQuest thunder to Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. And really, there’s no greater proof than having everyone talking about the game. Well that one million account record is also good proof, we suppose.

The New York Times reviews Free Realms | Massively

The Emasculation of MMOs: Part 2 – Fun is for Children, Adventure is for Adults

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:00:38 +0000

'FreeRealms' Launches Today, World of Warcraft for Kids With

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:03:18 +0000

‘FreeRealms’ Launches Today, World of Warcraft for Kids Without Money

Posted by CJensen@infoaddict.com | April 28th, 2009 | No Comments »

FILED UNDER: All. Free Stuff. Games.

Sony is unleashing FreeRealms today, which is a free MMORPG that looks and feels a lot like World of Warcraft. You’ll find an eerily similar art style to Blizzard’s juggernaut, but at least it’s easy on the pocketbook. FreeRealms definitely skews young, with lots of cutesy characters and simplified gameplay, though don’t let the “Free’ entirely fool you: while it is indeed free, there are tons of quests and items that can only be attained by paying a subscription free or paying for a particular object.

Go sign up by heading here!

Tags FreeRealms, mmo, mmorpg, Sony, world of warcraft