While the real housing market may still be languishing, KingsIsle Entertainment has made the dream quite accessible for players of online virtual world Wizard101® (www.wizard101.com). A robust new housing system called Wizard Castles and Lands is being made live in the game today, enabling players to customize their own personal space. The new feature ranges from a dorm room to luxury private floating island villas that can be decorated inside and out, complete with blossoming cherry trees, sculptures and a car in the driveway.
 
"As with other aspects of Wizard101," said Wizard101 Director J. Todd Coleman, "we really wanted to make sure Castles and Lands was a feature all of our players could participate in from the very beginning."

Wizard Castles and Lands provide a whole new aspect to the all-ages game of wizarding adventure, card collecting, spell casting, mini-games and more. All players, including Free-to-play (FTP), start out with a dorm room at the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts with hundreds of decorating options from wallpaper to in-game trophies. Modest and luxury private Castles and Lands can be purchased with in-game gold, giving players a virtual space to invite their friends and showcase their Wizard101 style. 
 
Beginning in the fantasy-inspired world of Wizard City, a turtle character named "Buxley Turtleton" is the Castles and Lands vendor who allows players to choose a type of Wizard City-themed house. Each world in the game will have a turtle character that sells the Castles and Lands which correspond to the world the player is in at that time.
 
Players can teleport to their own house or over to a friends house via their Friends List.   Decorations can be obtained through many methods including in-game gold, PvP Arena Points, quest rewards, exploration, defeat of selected bosses, common or rare enemy drops and Crown (microtransaction) purchase. Features include:

• Three tiers of housing: Dorm, Modest Private and Luxury Private
• Two housing styles for each of five current worlds, beginning with Wizard City.
• Over 1,000 decorative housing items such as plants, statues, wall hangings, columns, pictures, furniture and more.
• Many variations, including more than 20 types of detailed wallpaper and flooring.

Popular with families who like to play together or connect over distance, Wizard101 was designed with the safety of young players in mind. It is rated E10+ by the ESRB. Anybody with a Windows-based PC can play the Free-to-Play areas of the game for as long as they like. Advanced content is available by subscription or microtransaction. Wizard101 gift cards can now be found at more than 13,000 retail outlets nationwide.