SFF Chronicles News
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12th August 2011 12:40 PM
Darren Allan
Funcom’s MMOG Age of Conan was released three years ago, and was well received at the time.
In May this year, however, the news came that the publisher had decided it was going to adopt a free-to-play model in the summer. Age of Conan: Unchained was released last month, dropping the subscription fee and coming as a free download.
And apparently the new business model, which uses micro-transactions via an in-game store offering special weapons, mounts and so forth, has been a success.
Certainly plenty of people have picked up their sword and ventured into the online realm of Hyboria. In the first month of Unchained, 300,000 new players have signed up. Server activity has apparently quadrupled, so it seems this was definitely a smart move by Funcom.
CEO Trond Arne Aas commented on the fiscal aspects of the new model: “The launch of the hybrid business model has been very successful so far.”
“The activity levels on the servers are booming with a fourfold increase in players during July, we more than doubled the revenue generated from the game, and we have experienced a positive development in subscriber numbers. This definitely gives us great hope for the game’s future.”
Over two million players have now set foot in Hyboria at one time or another. Funcom is set to push forward with further content releases, including a movie tie-in adventure pack coming in the near future.
That’s to coincide with the Conan reboot which is out at the cinema later this month.
The “Savage Coast of Turan” pack will introduce new world areas, monsters and equipment which are drawn from the movie. Another good idea on Funcom’s part, which may well see further new player numbers increase after they’ve got a taste of decapitation aplenty in the Conan flick.
If you fancy releasing your inner Conan, you can sign up for the game gratis at the official website.
Darren Allan
Funcom’s MMOG Age of Conan was released three years ago, and was well received at the time.
In May this year, however, the news came that the publisher had decided it was going to adopt a free-to-play model in the summer. Age of Conan: Unchained was released last month, dropping the subscription fee and coming as a free download.
And apparently the new business model, which uses micro-transactions via an in-game store offering special weapons, mounts and so forth, has been a success.
Certainly plenty of people have picked up their sword and ventured into the online realm of Hyboria. In the first month of Unchained, 300,000 new players have signed up. Server activity has apparently quadrupled, so it seems this was definitely a smart move by Funcom.
CEO Trond Arne Aas commented on the fiscal aspects of the new model: “The launch of the hybrid business model has been very successful so far.”
“The activity levels on the servers are booming with a fourfold increase in players during July, we more than doubled the revenue generated from the game, and we have experienced a positive development in subscriber numbers. This definitely gives us great hope for the game’s future.”
Over two million players have now set foot in Hyboria at one time or another. Funcom is set to push forward with further content releases, including a movie tie-in adventure pack coming in the near future.
That’s to coincide with the Conan reboot which is out at the cinema later this month.
The “Savage Coast of Turan” pack will introduce new world areas, monsters and equipment which are drawn from the movie. Another good idea on Funcom’s part, which may well see further new player numbers increase after they’ve got a taste of decapitation aplenty in the Conan flick.
If you fancy releasing your inner Conan, you can sign up for the game gratis at the official website.
