Congratulations to Matt Mihaly and the rest of Iron Realms on the decennial of Achaea, the text mud that got the company going. There have been many times over the last ten years when I’ve toyed with the idea of putting together a commercial text game, but have tossed the idea out as too difficult a pursuit. How many paying players could I realistically attract in the age of graphical MMOGs? Yet, Iron Realms has been steadily growing since Achaea first launched and have several other profitable text-based games in operation. They prove the market exists, but more importantly they have crafted such detailed and entertaining experiences that people want to pay. Dig this blurb from Achaea’s home page:
Free to play. We will never require that you pay to play, and you will always have access to everything in Achaea without paying us a dime. We make money only when existing players believe their experience is worth paying for, as they can simply play forever without paying. Match that, Sony or Blizzard.
Currently, Iron Realms are developing their first graphical MMOG, Earth Eternal. It will also be free to play. It seems they will be using a micro-transaction model for that game.
Matt has created a business that I think any independent game developer would be envious of. Not only is the company profitable, they have a loyal customer base. Money comes and goes, but customers who stick around are a sign that a company is doing something right. I look forward to ten more years of great Iron Realms games.
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