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Age of Conan: Unchained conquers 300,000 new players, doubles revenue in a month
The secret is out and the jig is up: MMO studios have solid evidence that adding a free-to-play option on top of a subscription model is the way to bring in hordes of new players. Age of Conan: Unchained proved this today as Funcom announced the addition of over 300,000 players to its bloody family in the first month of service. Apparently the servers are packed full and Funcom is raking in the moolah, too. The studio announced that servers have quadrupled activity during this time period, and revenues have more then doubled. This is certainly good news for the 2008 title, which is now being supported by a mix of subscription and cash shop options. Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas is pleased as (a) punch: "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." Age of Conan is set to release a movie tie-in update later this month called Savage Coast of Turan to take advantage of the Conan the Barbarian movie coming to theaters on the 18th.
The Anvil of Crom: Unchained, free at last, and some initial observations
Timing, as they say, is everything, and so I'd like to take a brief moment to thank Funcom for fouling up my carefully laid column plans this week. Also, it's a rare day that I'm not prowling the interwebs in search of news for our fair website, so of course, the second day out of the last six months that saw me take some time off was naturally the very same day that Funcom decided to launch Age of Conan: Unchained. And yeah, I said Unchained, not Unrated, and if you think you're going to have trouble referring to the game as such after cozying up to the former moniker for the last month, console yourself with the fact that you now have David Lee Roth careening around inside your head for the foreseeable future. You're welcome. In all seriousness, though, Age of Conan is free at last, free at last, thank God almighty it's free-to-play at last (even if it was a little sudden).
Age of Conan: Unchained (aka F2P) starts tomorrow [Updated]
Yeah, you read that headline right. Age of Conan: Unrated is now Age of Conan: Unchained according to a new Craig Morrison interview over at PC Gamer. Oh, and that free-to-play launch date we've been asking for? It's tomorrow today. Funcom is inviting both new and old players to check out a good portion of its Hyborian content on the house, and the company will also be unveiling its cash shop (complete with a new "temptress" pet that helps the title live up to its mature rating). Unchained also marks the release of new content in the form of the Forgotten City and The Breach solo instances. As we told you last month, these new dungeons scale to your level and offer an experience designed to relieve the monotony of the well-traveled Noble District villas. Stick with Massively all weekend as we bring you the latest AoC: Unchained news and impressions, and don't forget to check out the Unchained launch trailer after the break. [Update]: Funcom has also posted its traditional monthly dev update, which focuses on all of the new content coming soon to AoC (and there is a lot of it). In addition to the two dungeons debuting today with Unchained, players can look forward to the long-awaited House of Crom dungeon (no, really!), new tier four raids, the Savage Coast of Turan stuff, and of course, Blood and Glory. [Update 2]: AoC 2.6, and F2P, is in fact going live today -- June 30th -- and the game launcher is currently down for patching. Funcom's Glen "Famine" Swan confirms as much on the official forums, and we'll link the patch notes as soon as they're available.
Conan's editors really love Final Cut Pro X... or maybe they don't (video)
The web is abuzz with talk of Apple's new slimmed-down, low-cost Final Cut Pro X, but Cupertino's beloved video editing platform has also caused quite a stir among professionals, who note its lack of features and glaring absence of backwards compatibility. Conan O'Brien's editors have already downloaded the new app, and threw together a segment for last night's show highlighting some of its new features. Jump past the break for a clip of Final Cut Pro's 90 seconds of fame, or warm up that credit card and head over to the Mac App Store to give it a spin for yourself. Just don't dump Final Cut Pro 7 yet -- you'll need to have it around to open legacy projects, output to tape, utilize multiple editing sequences, and access Photoshop layers, along with one or two other tiny omissions.
The Anvil of Crom: Ranging across the border
"Know, O prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet." -- The Nemedian Chronicles Conan fans will recognize the above passage as one of the most famous in the barbarian's extensive canon. It appears at the beginning of 1932's The Phoenix on the Sword and serves as a brief teaser for the history that underlies the world of Hyboria. Being something of an MMO lore junkie (and given the fact that I'm slowly working my way through Robert E. Howard's Conan library), I've often wondered about the origins of the Nemedian Chronicles and the people who wrote them. While Nemedia itself is not yet accessible in Age of Conan, Funcom's nods to Nemedian culture are numerous, and nowhere is this more evident than the Border Range. Join me after the cut for some impressions on this war-torn zone and the stories behind it. %Gallery-126465%
The Anvil of Crom: Server merges, separation, and why both are potentially swell
Last week I mentioned that the Age of Conan Unrated announcement has given us a lot to talk about. There's the 800-lb. free-to-try elephant in the room, there's a bunch of new content that's both coming soon and already here, and there's also an endlessly fascinating quote from Funcom game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison that is, well, endlessly fascinating. This last bit got lost in the big announcement blitzkrieg, and because it was buried in the depths of a thread about roleplay on the EU boards, it's safe to assume that 99.99% of Age of Conan players didn't read it. Regardless, it may well be one of the more interesting and exciting developments in Age of Conan's short history. What was it about? Well, it involves servers, server merges, and new technology that could change the way we think about MMORPGs and server populations.
Funcom prepping new Age of Conan adventure pack inspired by film reboot
It looks like rumors of new film-related content for Age of Conan were pretty accurate, as Funcom has officially announced The Savage Coast of Turan adventure pack for its fantasy MMORPG. According to a new press release, the pack "includes but is not limited to" content from the forthcoming Conan the Barbarian film reboot and will see players traveling to the lands of Turan some 20 years after the events of the movie. Players will explore the city of Ardashir and take on new quests, encounters, raids, and dungeons, all inspired by the film and on display in the recently released Conan trailer. Conan the Barbarian debuts August 19th, and while there is no firm release date for The Savage Coast of Turan, film producer Fredrik Malmberg says that fans will appreciate the synergy between the movie and Funcom's MMORPG. "Many of the concepts, locations, and designs from the game development were utilized by the film team for consistency," he said. Check out our AoC gallery below for a glimpse of some Ardashir concept art that includes new Turanian armor. %Gallery-9836%
Rumor: Funcom readying new Age of Conan lands
Speculation and excitement are the order of the day on both the European and American forums for Age of Conan. What's all the hubbub about? Two new lands are purportedly in the works, and this jibes with a cryptic comment by Funcom game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison in last month's development update. "This is where we get to the stuff we can't quite talk about just yet... yes, a little teasing I know, but trust us, it is far more frustrating not being able to talk about what is coming just yet. These will be important updates, with two new and important elements incoming," Morrison wrote. Fans are speculating that the two new and important elements are in fact two Hyborian provinces filled with a multitude of new zones, specifically Turan and Ardashir. Massively has confirmed that bringing up the in-game player search tab and filtering by region shows two new headings labeled Turan and Ardashir alongside the pre-existing countries of Aquilonia, Cimmeria, Stygia, and Khitai. There is also a bit of conjecture on the official boards regarding Funcom's annual report, which says in part that 2011 will bring "significant content and story tie-ins with the [new Conan] movie." We'll keep you updated as this story develops and as we get official word from the devs. [Thanks to Nyan for the tip!]
The Anvil of Crom: Can Funcom capitalize on the Conan film reboot?
I don't know about you, Age of Conan-faithful, but I'm a hopeless film trailer junkie. I collect them. I watch (and re-watch) them on my computer, my phone, my television, and of course, at the cinema proper. A lot of the time, trailers are substantially better than the full-length films they're meant to sell, and I've even been known to pay full price for a ticket only to walk out after the preview (particularly when said preview concerned a long-awaited prequel and was inexplicably tacked on to the front of Meet Joe Black). Given that Conan already plays a significant role in my gaming life, I think deconstructing the recently released trailer for the upcoming film franchise reboot makes a certain sort of sense. Sadly, Massively isn't a haven for film criticism, but I'd like to get around that by doing a bit of theorizing on how the new flick could conceivably affect our favorite MMORPG.
Conan plays life-sized Angry Birds with Ikea furniture
We've been jonesing to see a life-size version of Angry Birds since Neil Patrick Harris teased us with his chicken catapult during the VGAs. Yesterday on Conan, we got our wish -- not with real-life poultry, mind you, but with bird-shaped balls and really unstable Ikea furniture.
Conan kills Watson, evening the score (video)
Sure, IBM's Watson is able to beat humans to the buzzer on some lousy television game show. But how does the smarmy supercomputer hold up to the business end of a baseball bat wielded by a jealous husband with opposable thumbs? Click through the break for a taste of sweet, carbon-based revenge.
Conan O'Brien on Xbox Live was too big a 'leap of faith,' says show's producer
During the "Hollywood Creative Masters" session at CES last month, the executive producer of Conan O'Brien's show, Jeff Ross, spoke on last April's short-lived rumor of talks to relaunch the show on a proposed Xbox Live channel (before the deal was made to bring Conan to TBS), reports Gamasutra contributor Chris Morris (who moderated the CES session). While Ross said it was "interesting to sit and look at it," Microsoft's proposal lacked a clear vision, and he recalled that "a lot of the conversations were, 'Well, it's a show, but it's not a show and there are no breaks, but maybe there are breaks and it's not 60 minutes -- it's this,' and nobody really knew what it was." "So it was really going to be a leap of faith to jump in with these guys and figure something out which we didn't know," Ross said, later reiterating that "we had some eventual television offers and we basically shied away from the [Xbox thing]." Last November, Reuters reported that Microsoft's plans for an Xbox Live "television channel" had taken a more conventional shape, with the company looking to license existing TV programming to stream though an Xbox Dashboard application, with a potential for interactive elements. "I think it's coming and it's big," Ross said of a TV-type feature on Xbox Live, before concluding, "It's just that we weren't in a position at that point to figure out what it was." [Photo credit: Team Coco]
The Anvil of Crom: Sex, violence, and the solo gamer
OK, those of you who clicked on this week's issue of The Anvil of Crom hoping to read a sordid expose filled with tawdry, titillating screenshots from Funcom's M-rated Age of Conan MMO might be disappointed. I know, I know, a headline like that is a dastardly writer trick. Blame it on the fact that I happened across an old Natalie Wood film with a catchy title while scrounging about for this week's topic. At any rate, I will be mentioning violence, as it's hard to talk about Age of Conan without it. Hopefully that will earn your forgiveness. Really though, I'm itching to spend a bit of virtual ink on the solo gamer, particularly as he or she relates to Funcom's sword and sorcery epic, so join me after the cut for a look at how the lone wolf fares in Hyboria.
Age of Conan producer's letter talks new content, possible movie tie-in
It's the end of the month, and if you're following Age of Conan, you know it's time for the traditional letter from the game director. Funcom's Craig "Silirrion" Morrison obliges us with a lengthy look back at 2010's AoC milestones as well as a glimpse of what's coming in 2011. In addition to continual content rollouts and tweaks of the current 2.1 build (which is set to include two new Pai-Kang 6-man instances, new tier four Jade Citadel raids, a solo daily instance, and two new auto content generation dungeons), Morrison hints at a possible tie-in with the forthcoming Conan motion picture. "Some of the things [on tap for 2011] might just relate to the return of the great barbarian to the silver screen later this year in the form of the new Conan movie. That is something we are very excited about, and means there is great potential over the coming year, with a lot of renewed interest in everything Hyborian," he writes.
Conan celebrates Christmas with Mr. and Mrs. SanMagnatron Claus
Little Kenny Irwin junior just made the big time. Last night, Conan O'Brien revealed his new Christmas set built by the rather unconventional microwave artist. While highlights include Mr. and Mrs. SanMagnatron Claus, Godzilla holding a candy cane, and the RoboRabbi, the true highlight is of Conan interviewing the desert-dwelling artist himself. See both videos after the break, it's the greatest thing we've seen since the history of storytelling began and humanity first came upon this world - going back to the distant past and the future at the same time. [Thanks, Dusty K.]
Conan game being conceived by Paradox and DDM
A new Conan el bárbaro video game is being developed in a collaboration between Paradox, which holds the rights to the Hyborian adventurer, and Digital Development Management (DDM). Basically, it'll be the job of DDM's "game industry services division" to seek out a developer and publisher to get the game on store shelves. A DDM representative wanted to be clear that the game will not necessarily be based on next year's Conan The Barbarian film. At best, Conan's recent game career has been shaky from both a fan and fiscal standpoint. The Age of Conan MMO is still around, unlike fond recollection for THQ's action game from 2007. And yes, a Conan parody actually made a great cameo in Comic Jumper, but that wasn't exactly "official."
Advertisers, broadcasters fight over who owns the HD sidebars during 4x3 commercials
Surprisingly, even in 2010 not every commercial on high definition channels is actually in HD, and for channels like TBS that fill in the sides of 4x3 content with their own branded bars, advertisers are suddenly finding issue with competing for screen space. Things reached a head when TBS used its bars to promote the new late night Conan show, and now the Association of National Advertisers has come out with a statement indicating the sidebars belong to the advertiser, not the network, while the ad is running unless otherwise agreed. Of course, simply making commercials in HD (if they're going to be on, they should at least look good) would fix this, but until then well see who has the upper hand in this battle of wills.
The Soapbox: Respect the IP (or, why MMOs can't)
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Luke: What a piece of junk! Han: She'll make point five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself. But we're a little rushed, so if you'll just get on board, we'll get out of here. Luke: Lawlz. You can't pilot that thing. It's a YT-1300 and you're a Rebel-aligned Smuggler! Han: %&*$ ... Ah yes, continuity. It might as well be a four-letter word, at least when it comes to MMORPGs based on existing intellectual properties. Sure, producers pay a lot of lip service to faithfully recreating beloved works in an online space, but the reality inevitably ends up looking like the love child of Frankenstein's monster and a duck-billed platypus. Why then do we keep seeing MMOs riffing on Star Wars, Star Trek, Tolkien, and even Battlestar Galactica? Easy money, of course. A better question, and one I hope to answer at the conclusion of today's Soapbox, is why "MMORPG" automatically equals butchered continuity. In a nutshell, why is it so hard to respect the IP?
Age of Conan rolls out long-term sub bonuses
Funcom has just announced the availability of several limited-time long-term subscription offers, each of them featuring attractive in-game bonus items. The deals are broken down into 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month durations, with each option boasting additional free game time, character levels, and an owlet companion pet. The 3-month package sports 14 days of free game time, an owlet pet, and 5 free character levels. The 6- and 12-month deals add the Warlord's Cache, a treasure chest of XP buffs, food and drink buffs, and teleportation scrolls that are shared among all the characters on your account. They also add 30 and 60 days of game time, respectively, as well as 10 and 15 free character levels. The 12-month option also comes with the Wings of Power, a wearable item that grants a 10% experience boost for characters of level 40 and above. If you're thinking of playing Age of Conan long-term, check out these deals while they last, as Funcom states that they'll be gone forever as of September 30th.
Games on Demand: NBA Street Homecourt, Conan
NBA Street Homecourt and hack-n-slasher Conan are both available now for $20 on Xbox 360's Games on Demand. Yes, you can pick up physical copies of both titles for half that price used at GameStop. Also, Rockstar Table Tennis is now available on GoD in Asia and Project Sylpheed can be purchased off the service in Japan. As this post involves basketball, [insert obligatory comment about LeBron and Miami here].
