Berlin, Germany : Frogster Interactive announced that the population of its highly anticipated free-to-play MMORPG Runes of Magic, passed 300,000 players in early January 2009. The steady growth of the population of Taborea will enable Frogster to continuously update and polish the game in the run up to its commercialization in March 2009.

"Frogster would like to thank our dedicated community for their constructive feedback since the beginning of the open beta", said Daniel Ullrich, Director of Product Management at Frogster Interactive, "With the development of new content being almost complete, we are eager to see whether the community will be as enthusiastic about the new content and features as we are."

During the festive break, Runes of Magic convinced more critics and won several prestigious awards with the specialized press. After declaring Runes of Magic Gold as the best free-to-play game of Show at the Games Convention 2008 in August, TenTonHammer.com awarded Runes of Magic the "Surprise Hit 2008". The editors of Mmorpg-planet.com selected Runes of Magic as the "Best Free MMORPG of 2008" and was the only free-to-play title to be nominated for MMORPG.com's upcoming "Most anticipated Game of 2009" Readers Choice award.

Runes of Magic began its open beta in December with an English and German version. All interested players can now set up an account and download the client for free at www.runesofmagic.com.

Runes of Magic - a world full of wizardry and adventure
With an extensive range of features Runes of Magic Gold prepares to redefine the standard of free-to-play MMO games. Right from the launch Runes of Magic Gold will convey its absorbing story through more than 1.000 quests embedded in an atmospheric world. Players can choose between six main classes. Combined with a secondary class they dispose of 36 individual combinations of character classes over all. All characters possess unique skills with impressive combo attacks and can use mounts. A particularly attractive feature for guilds and players is the possibility to arrange their own virtual homes with individual furnishing. Thanks to an extensive crafting and reputation system, thrilling PVP as well as demanding dungeons and boss-monsters, no wishes remain unsatisfied. The Taiwanese developer Runewaker has developed Rom Gold according to western MMO standards within a time frame of three years. The studio will provide new challenges for players every three to four months with free add-ons and updates. MMO fans can find more information, pictures and videos on the official website www.runesofmagic.com.