Fill in a form, decipher the captcha, click the verification email, download the client – getting going in even the simplest MMO can be hard work, and the developer of Football Superstars has said that each of these barrier’s can lose a title 50 per cent of its potential userbase.

Furthermore, those looking to get it right need look no further than Sony’s tremendously successful Free Realms.

“From our experience of measuring player or potential player activity from registration to getting in to the game world any barrier presented to them is likely to lose you 50 per cent or more at each stage – this is potentially true for each registration field you have in the process,” CyberSports’ creative director Steve Marshall told CasualGaming.biz.

“If anyone has managed this process near perfectly I would have to suggest it has been SOE with Free Realms. If it were up to me they would win several awards for their download delivery method alone and I believe Free Realms will be the benchmark for many development studios in the future.”

To read the full interview with Steve Marshall, click here.