One million new adventurers in Dungeons and Dragons Online

For all that the Penny Arcade guys may have made a joke about the old Dungeons and Dragons Online format, there's no disputing that the change to a hybrid free-to-play model has given the game a new lease on life. Groups aren't hard to find; the cities are bustling; and players have great things to say about their hybrid model which allows you to either work for rewards or pay a small fee for the level of content you want. Add to that Turbine's wonderful graphics and passionate devotion to their games -- and player-base -- and you can see why Dungeons and Dragons Online is just getting better.

That's why it should come as no surprise to hear that since relaunching as a hybrid F2P in September, DDO has managed to amass more than 1 million new players who had never played the game before. According to Turbine, there are over twice as many paid subscribers as there were prior to the change. The revenue from DDO store transactions is now also over 500% -- three times the industry standard for similar titles!

According to a statement from Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc: "The response from players to DDO Unlimited has been nothing short of phenomenal. We've known all along how great this game is and by implementing an innovative new model that put the players in charge of how they pay and play DDO Unlimited, we've successfully expanded our reach and injected new energy into the game. Without a doubt, DDO Unlimited is a hit!"

We also heard from Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer of DDO, who added his thoughts on their success. "The launch of DDO Unlimited has been a huge success and has really taken the game to a new level. As we celebrate our 4th birthday, the game has never been better and we're just getting started with more adventure packs, more store items, and other innovative features coming in the major updates we have planned throughout 2010."

With the 4th birthday, new players checking the game out in droves, and lots of incredible content on the horizon, the future is definitely bright for Dungeons and Dragons Online! We here at Massively would like to congratulate them on their million new player mark, and wish them much continued success.