Launch Watch - Chronicles of Spellborn, MLB Dugout Heroes, Free Realms

This past week, three new online games have seen their launch dates arrive. First up: The Chronicles of Spellborn from reborn game publisher Acclaim, which officially launched this past week. The game uses a "free-mium" pricing model that keeps the game free-to-play at the lowest experience levels, then requires you to pony up after your character reaches level 7, at which point you must either sign up for a subscription to advance your character further, or purchase microtransaction "Acclaim coins" to fund your account. Spellborn has two playable races, the humans and the satyr-like Daevi, and three primary character archetypes (warrior, wizard, rogue), each of which branches out in to four specialized character classes. You can grab the game client from our download section.

MLB Dugout Heroes is a free-to-play online baseball game that officially launches today, April 28, and carries the official MLB license. You create your own baseball team by drafting cartoon versions of real-life players from different eras, and play either single-player matches or online matches against other players. Playing matches will gain experience levels for your team. Publisher Gamescampus has also just opened an item mall where you can purchase in-game items and bonuses by way of microtransactions. You can try it out by downloading the game client from our download section.

Last but not least is Free Realms, the kid-friendly, free-to-play massively multiplayer game from Sony Online Entertainment, the same studio that produced the EverQuest games. The PC version of the game is set to launch today, April 28, from the game's official Web site, which will be where you'll start the game by creating a new character while the client downloads to your computer in the background. Free Realms takes place in a Harry Potter-esque fantasy realm where your character can take on various "professions" that will let you be anything from a ninja to a race driver in the game's driving minigames.