[5][6] Sierra initially solicited The Coles to design The Realm as an online adaptation of Quest for Glory, but this plan was not further pursued.

[4] The Realm was then distributed through Sierra's World Opponent Network service before being abandoned due to its unfavorable comparison to popular competitors like Ultima Online and EverQuest.

[21] In 2018, Norseman granted an exclusive license to develop and distribute The Realm Online to Rat Labs, a company led by players who had previously operated the private server.

[22] Rat Labs published an official fresh start server in 2018 featuring new content, bug fixes, and events.

[25] The Realm Online was designed to combine the animated visual environments and inventories of Sierra's point-and-click adventure games with the role-playing mechanisms of MUDs.

[27] Players choose the gender, race (elf, giant, or human), and class (warrior, adventurer, wizard, or thief) during character creation.

Players also customize the visual appearance of their character, including detailed facial features, hairstyle, skin color, and body size.

[29] The Realm Online uses turn-based combat, which makes it different from other MUDs of its generation,[3] and is convenient for players with a bad Internet connection.

[31] Sierra emphasized The Realm's balance of gameplay and social interaction, describing it as "vast, multinational community" in which players from different age groups, cultures, and professions could connect.

[4][5][32] In the game's first year, 25,000 user accounts had been made, representing approximately 30% of the nascent MMO market otherwise dominated by Ultima Online.