Age of Conan sees 300,000 sign up after free-to-play switch, double revenue in first month
Like Lord of the Rings Online before it, Age of Conan has sipped from the free-to-play goblet and, oh, it was a good sip. Developer Funcom reports that, since migrating the previous subscription-based game into free-to-play territory last month, Age of Conan: Unchained (the game's new moniker) has seen a spike in users to the tune of 300,000 -- overall, revenues doubled over the last month. That is, like, the total opposite of lamentation for Funcom!
And to celebrate the upcoming movie remake of the original Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle, Funcom is hard at work on a free movie tie-in content pack called Savage Coast of Turan. It will add new areas, equipment, enemies and charatcers from the upcoming film, which is set to pillage your local cinema on August 19.
Hit the jump for the full press release.
Show full PR text
Over 300,000 players join 'Age of Conan: Unchained' in first month
– The barbarian hordes are invading the virtual lands of Hyboria, in the now free-to-play 'Age of Conan: Unchained' –
– Server activity quadrupled, game revenues more than doubled during launch month –
– Two million players have experienced the virtual Hyboria –
Durham, USA – August 11th, 2011 – This month the greatest fantasy hero of all time is truly making his triumphant return to the spotlight. Not only is the premiere of the upcoming Hollywood revival, 'Conan the Barbarian', less than two weeks away, Conan is also breaking new grounds in the massively multiplayer online gaming universe. After going free-to-play roughly a month ago, over 300,000 new players have now charged the fields of Hyboria in 'Age of Conan: Unchained'.
"The launch of the hybrid business model has been very successful so far," says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. "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."
'Age of Conan' launched in 2008 to raving reviews and player acclaim. The game became the best-selling new MMO of the year as it topped the sales chart in over 17 different countries simultaneously, and the game recently hit the impressive milestone of over two million players having experienced the world of Hyboria.
"We are delighted to see the success of 'Age of Conan: Unchained'", says Executive Producer and Game Director Craig Morrison. "We have been working hard to show that we are one of the best, and most unique, MMO experiences on the market. Our focus now is to deliver even more content and new experiences to players, starting with the movie tie-in Adventure Pack that is launching in the near future!"
To celebrate the revival of Conan the Barbarian on the silver screen, the 'Age of Conan: Unchained' development team are hard at work creating a unique, movie tie-in Adventure Pack titled 'Savage Coast of Turan'. The adventure pack will introduce all new world areas, as well as monsters, characters and player equipment that audiences can experience in the movie as it hits theatres on August 18th.
