Fusion Fall – MMO Fallout

Last December, I talked briefly about Cartoon Network’s MMO, Fusion Fall. For the fact that Cartoon Network boasted seven million registered players, I noted that the line between registered and active was thick, in the case of public relations, thick enough that if a company is showing off registered users compared to active users, all signs point towards the active population not being as high as they would like. Take Runescape for instance, that has over one hundred million accounts created, but approximately six million active, over one million of those being paying members. Active users are always a fraction of the total accounts even on free to play games because, if what Dungeon Runners told us is any indication, a sizable number don’t even finish downloading the game before they quit.

Since I’ve posted that article up, I’ve had people asking the same question: When exactly is Free Realms going free to play, and up until now I haven’t been able to give much of an answer other than “beats me.” Although the announcement was made back in November, there has been a Duke Nukem style of “when it’s done” coming from the Fusion Fall development team. According to Massively, however, the date will be April 19th, when all of Fusion Fall opens up for free.

Fusion Fall is a fun game that, sadly, advertised to an age group that does not have the resources nor the means (for the most part) to pay for monthly fees, even if they are only five dollars. How Fusion Fall expects to fund itself is unclear at this time, but I would not be surprised to see in-game advertising as part of the deal.

More on Fusion Fall as it appears.

Fusion Fall, the kid-oriented MMO based on the Cartoon Network universe, boasts seven million registered users. Since the game is going free to play in 2010, I think it’s safe to assume very few of those registered accounts still play, and even fewer are paying subscribers. When a company reports registered accounts rather than active accounts, it’s a sign the latter number is a fraction of the former.

On the heels of Funcom’s announcement of their own free to play MMO, Cartoon Network has announced that Fusion Fall, launched just a year ago, will be going 100% free to play in 2010. Up until then, players who opted to stay free were able to play the game up to level 4, and its accompanying nano-bots. I beta tested the game and, upon launch, got myself to level four after about an hour and a half. Fusion Fall isn’t a freemium (free with premium content) title as much as it is a demo with a full paid product.

The problem that Fusion Fall faces is that the kid’s demographic is not one that pays monthly subscriptions for games. First, the kids themselves rarely have cash on hand and don’t have the avenue to pay the subscription fees themselves (no bank cards, no credit cards). Second, the parents are generally very wary of signing their kids up for these games.

Any subscribers will be reimbursed in the form of some exclusive items.