Free Realms launches today on PC

By Robert Purchese Published 28 April, 2009

PS3 version due out later in the year.

Sony Online Entertainment will launch the friendly, cartoon world of Free Realms today, according to the official website (which is still undergoing maintenance). A PS3 version is due to follow.

Unfortunately there's still no mention of when the live servers - and associated accounts, Station Cash Shop services - will appear. SOE will be working to an American timeframe, so it may be tomorrow before we can hope to play.

Free Realms is free to download and play, and gradually downloads and streams the virtual world as you explore. Subscription is optional and can be done solo or as a family package. Micro-transactions feature, too.

Unlike other MMOs, combat within Free Realms is also optional, as character advancement can be done in a number of areas: exploration, combat, building, housing, pet-raising, mini-games and social networking. There are the usual slew of fantasy classes to pick from, such as wizards and warriors, but players will be able to change these on a whim.

We'll offer our thoughts on Free Realms soon. Until then, take a look at our hands-on impressions from last year for an idea of what to expect.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (13) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ZuluHero #1 3 years ago

    Im waiting for the servers to go live as we speak! I've been playing this for the past week in Beta and its really surprised me. Its really polished and so fun that i'm going to become a member off the bat - plus i wasn't picked to Beta test the member side of things so it will be good to try out those last few jobs and do the quests for members only!
    Edited by 1 at 28/04/09 @ 11:51

  • dan13l #2 3 years ago

    I've been beta testing this with my son (nearly 4). It's a great child friendly MMO. I'm tempted to get the family sub so we can multi box it.

    I agree with ZuluHero - the level of polish is really impressive.

  • ArcMonkey #3 3 years ago

    does any one else thinks this looks a bit like Fable 1? esp. the characters

  • patch #4 3 years ago

    It gets an E 10+ rating for "Crude humour and fantasy violence". If that doesn't sum up the EuroGamer forums, I don't know what will.

  • _LarZen_ #5 3 years ago

    I was in the Beta and its a nice game, im am surly gonna test it more when its live soon. And im no kid either...over 30 years old so the game do appeal to all ages.

  • Miths #6 3 years ago

    So this isn't just for kids? Maybe I should give it a try then - Jumpgate isn't out yet, and I've reached the 4-6 week mark with Age of Conan where I pretty much always get bored with and quit any MMO I've played.

  • ZuluHero #7 3 years ago

    30 year old kid here :)

    If you can get past the saccharine sweet visuals (which I really love actually) then you will be find a fun game here. I think that it bears more than a passing resemblance to WoW with its environments, but maybe that’s just me.
    Edited by 1 at 28/04/09 @ 12:40

  • DFawkes #8 3 years ago

    I'm quite liking it, though it doesn't seem to run all that well compared to the likes of WoW or WAR, on my system at least. Still, the variety of ways to grind differing careers should hopefully keep it fresh in the long term.

  • Spekingur #9 3 years ago

    The only gripe I have with it was that I couldn't find any place to change keyboard mapping and that the racing/derby was more graphically laggy for some reason.

  • TILT #10 3 years ago

    There are the usual slew of fantasy classes to pick from, such as wizards and warriors, but players will be able to change these on a whim.
    Wrong. Well, not the whole story, anyway. I signed up for the beta only because I read that you could play as a postman.

  • AOFanboi #11 3 years ago

    I guess this will have to do until Fusionfall gets here. (The free version only lasted until I was supposed to go back in time, and they refused to let me pay since my billing address did not match my phony BC, CA address.) Well, if it runs on my Mac, that is.

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #12 3 years ago

    Been playing the TCG side of the game and it's VERY addictive! Seeing as that 'job' is part of the F2P section of the game and 'winning' quests offers new cards to use. It's a lot better then the other versions SOE has.

  • iokthemonkey #13 3 years ago

    I can't get the game to play. :(

    I've created a toon but every time I try to enter the game, I get an error (G7 or something) about not being able to find some files or somesuch...