Official Site: Free Realms (Wikipedia)
Studio: SOE, now Daybreak Game Company
Launch Date: April 28, 2009
Sunset Date: March 31, 2014
Genre: Kid-Friendly Fantasy Themepark
Business Model: Hybrid F2P (Optional Sub, Cash Shop)
Platform: PC, PS3, Mac
free realms
The Game Archaeologist: Free Realms
Its very name was a declaration of rebellion against the status quo. In an era that had yet to shift from a subscription-only model...
Free Realms rogue server Sunrise begins taking beta sign-ups
With this past December's sale of Daybreak to a new owner, it brings to mind all of the MMOs that didn't make it to...
The Game Archaeologist: Seven ways EverQuest reshaped MMO history
To many veteran MMO players, the opening horns of EverQuest's score are enough to trigger vivid memories, violent hallucinations, and an unstoppable...
Global Chat: Would it be easier than assumed for World of Warcraft to do housing?
Piggy-backing on our column on World of Warcraft's lack of housing, MMO blog GamingSF argued that the game actually has a lot...
The Game Archaeologist: Clone Wars Adventures, the Star Wars MMO everyone kinda forgot
Whenever the topic -- the argument -- of Star Wars MMOs arises, the debate is usually between the merits of the sandboxy Star...
Battle Bards Episode 173: Down on the farm
Seeking a simpler and more quaint life? Then come on down to the farm with the Battle Bards, as the video game music crew...
Battle Bards Episode 167: Childlike wonder
Tapping into their inner children, the three Battle Bards get into the spirit of name calling, trading stickers, and goofing off in kiddie MMOs....
The Daily Grind: What is your favorite memory from a shuttered MMORPG?
Free Realms. Warhammer Online. WildStar. Asheron's Call. We've lived through so these and so many other MMO shutdowns over the...
Free Realms Sunrise rogue server readies beta, adds housing
For those missing Sony Online Entertainment's long-departed Free Realms, the only hope they've had has rested in the hands of a volunteer dev...
Jukebox Heroes: The best of FusionFall’s soundtrack
I can't say that I was ever that cognizant of Cartoon Network's foray into massively multiplayer online gaming. FusionFall is lumped into that...
Lawful Neutral: Why Josh Hawley’s lockbox regulation Senate bill is dead-on-arrival
There's a special place in my heart for lootboxes and exploitative monetization, and that place is somewhere below the revulsion I feel for Martin...
Battle Bards Episode 144: Colors of the rainbow
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet: Combined, these forces create the awesome power of Roy G. Biv — otherwise known as the...
Perfect Ten: The 10 most adorable MMORPGs ever
We all like to think of ourselves as cultured and deep individuals who routinely calculate square roots and recite Gilbert and Sullivan at dinner...
Free Realms Sunrise devs show off incredible progress in bringing back a sunsetted MMO
Free Realms is dead -- long live Free Realms Sunrise!
For the past few years, this emulator project has endeavored to return...
Adventure Academy is an ‘educational massively multiplayer online game’ launching May 1
Adventure Academy is going to mystify the typical gamer: There are no dragons to fight and no lockboxes to fight over. But if...
The Daily Grind: Which MMOs do you wish would come to console?
I've never been a console-first kind of gamer, so I've never felt a great pull to invest heavily in consoles, even when more major...
The Game Archaeologist: Castle Infinity, the MMO that was literally rescued from a dumpster
In the grand history of MMORPGs, kids games seem to have it rougher than most. Developers have had a hard time cracking into that...
Perfect Ten: Failed MMOs that could have succeeded with more love
Hindsight is 20/20. Unless you're blind in one eye from nostalgia, in which case hindsight is 0/20. In any case, you understand that it's...
Battle Bards Episode 112: MMO minigame music
It’s time to take a diversion to play — and listen — to the minigames tucked inside of our MMOs! The Battle Bards haul...
Betawatch: Wild Buster has opened a limited alpha (October 6, 2017)
Is this a real game? Did this happen again? Wild Buster added Serious Sam alongside Duke Nukem. We must acquiesce, neither is in...
