Sony Online Entertainment has announced that its kid-orientated virtual world Free Realms has entered closed beta, and is now accepting early registration for its open beta, set to begin in early April.

Free Realms is a "whimsical" virtual world where gamers can explore, compete, raise pets and socialize within a "family-friendly" environment, and offers a variety of gameplay possibilities including exploration, combat, race car driving, pet raising, mini-games and social networking.

The title is to be a free-to-play, and to launch and streams from within the browser.

"The beta testing phase is integral to the success of any video game, and we are asking that kids, parents, video game fans of all ages sign up to help us during these final weeks before Free Realms launches," said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. "Ten years ago, SOE introduced EverQuest, the genre-defining online video game, and this spring, we will introduce Free Realms, a game I believe will expand and enrich the kids' online gaming genre which really shows the rapid evolution of the online game space."