Feel free to retell some of your favorite memories in the comments section, and join us in wishing a happy birthday to KingsIsle and its baby, Wizard101! Click past the cut!
If you're familiar with magic in general, then you should be up on who Selena Gomez is. For those who might not know, she is the Samantha Stephens of the tween set. When it was announced that she was going to be guest-starring in one of the game's major updates as a lass who needed rescuing, reactions were all across the board. It only took but one chance to watch her dancing and singing with crab-people back-up dancers to win most of us over. If all games featured crustacean dancers like this one, the world might be a better place.
Celestia is the name of one of the most interesting expansions the game had seen so far. Not only did it bring a wonderful and beautiful new world for players to explore, but it raised the level cap to 60, introduced three new schools of celestial-themed magic, and rolled out a host of other important updates to everything from minions to reagents.
What do you get for 39 bucks? Well, a lot apparently, especially if you are a Wizard101 player. KingsIsle partnered with Gamestop, the major chain that sells all things digital and wonderful, to sell a bundle that was so epic that it dwarfed the other game cards in the store! With it, players got a huge mansion to decorate, a flying griffon mount, decorative clothing, and much more. If there's one thing that KingsIsle knows how to do, it's how to get you to part with your money.
Next, gardening was introduced, allowing players to plant seeds and grow plants that resembled emo asparagus, hairy feline flowers, and many other types of flora and fauna. After the plants matured, they could be harvested for goodies and replanted again. Each plant even had its own personality and preferences. This update was no FarmVille tack-on.
KingsIsle decided that the spring was the perfect time to hire Nick Jonas, one of the four magical brothers who magically appeared on this Earth one day, sent to entertain young girls everywhere. He was asked to construct songs for the latest expansion world of Wintertusk, a world that carried on with the story of Grizzleheim and added a host of other fixes and updates. For a while, the dashing Jonas was seen in game, surrounded by squealing teens who later lost interest when he aged several levels.
What do you do when you are one of the largest freemium MMOs in the USA? Expand northward, of course! You'd have to be prepared for a little resistance when you planned to take over an entirely new country, so KingsIsle came bearing gifts in the form of a massive sultan's palace card, similar to the epic bundle cards we saw earlier in the year. Luckily for the Canadian players, KingsIsle pushed its way into local retailers as well, bringing its presence to 50,000 stores! Once its appetite was whetted on our northern cousins, the company decided to move on to Germany, a country that presented challenges of its own with localization issues, UI adaption and map tweaks. All in the name of world domination, we suppose.
Despite the fact that some Massively readers will never be impressed by anything but Blizzard's multi-million users, Wizard101 continued to rack up accounts. Even if you subtract players who just logged in once or players who didn't get past level 10 and into paying zones, the number 20 million should blow your mind. At this rate, we expect Wizard101 and KingsIsle to be the equal of the largest game developers in the business... all by making a simple "kid's game." Go figure.
The final frontier. The ultimate place for gaming success. The market to top all markets. We're talking China here, and KingsIsle is determined to ship its game straight into the market. How can it do so? Well, the company partnered with Taomee Holdings Limited, a specialist in children's gaming. First it will have to work on localization, new voice acting, and a host of other hurdles before the client appears in the region. Here's hoping that the game matches up to the gaming style of the region. If not, it might have to settle for ruling the rest of the world instead.
If mid-level players were upset over not reaching higher-level content soon enough, they now have Wysteria to play through. The new zone features two new areas to adventure in, a brand-new level 60 gauntlet, and a magical tournament to join. After all that, KingIsle predicted that the Chinese move should be completed in 2012. (As long as the world doesn't end by then, of course.) Wait a second... Wizard101 slowly takes over the world, culminating in conquering one of the largest gaming markets ever... is this what the Mayans predicted?
To put it simply, the expansion and growth at KingsIsle has been nothing short of spectacular. Forget whether or not the game is built for kids (obviously it draws from all age ranges), but instead think of how far it has come in such a short amount of time. What is the secret?
Perhaps the low barrier of entry and the linear storyline have something to do with it, but we have a feeling that all of the social features, opportunities for theory-crafting, and intense PvP combat are to blame as well. It's hard to say exactly how the game, and the company behind the game, will go within the next year. We have a strong feeling that it will be one of the few freemium games to keep climbing upward.
Until the next one, happy anniversary, Wizard101!
