Age of Conan breaks pre-order records

By Oli Welsh Published 19 May, 2008

Funcom beats chest, roars.

Funcom has revealed a record breaking number of pre-orders for its upcoming MMO Age of Conan, says GamesIndustry.biz.

Pre-orders of the MMO's collector's edition have been strong enough to cause the title to completely sell out, despite a second print run to keep up with demand, selling in total around 111,000 units.

The demand has been so high that 700,000 copies of the game will be shipped to retailers for day one sales, and Funcom has announced it will be unable to fulfill all pre-orders in some markets due to current server limitations.

"Everyone in Funcom is delighted and humbled with the historical pre-order numbers for Age of Conan," said Morten Larssen, Funcom's sales and marketing boss.

"If the information we have is correct, they represent the highest pre-order number for any global launch of an original PC game, ever, including the original World of Warcraft launch."

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Baronen #1 4 years ago

    An MMO, you say.

  • space_ace #2 4 years ago

    great, now do the dreamfall chapters :p

  • berelain #3 4 years ago

    good on 'em.

    Game seems good, shame my PC can't keep up with it. I'll wait for the console release, I guess.

  • NickD7 #4 4 years ago

    Conan Vs Braveheart Vs Rob Roy face off round 1, do it Eurogamer. You haven't done a face off in like three days.

  • miiiguel #5 4 years ago

    I haven't heard of the 360 version for quite a while..., is it still going to happen? I want to try this MMO bs, so I really want it to appear on the awesome machine.

  • penhalion #6 4 years ago

    ...But PC gaming is dead isn't it ;)

  • the_dudefather #7 4 years ago

    @penhalion

    except for MMOs where there is little to no chance of piracy (and where private servers tend to suck ass) ;)

  • mingster #8 4 years ago

    I smell BS.. i can't believe that many people are interested in this MMO genre.

  • jaywalker3010 Verified Mastering Manager, Square Enix #9 4 years ago

    mingster -

    erm.. u are a doubting thomas aint ya.. guess the beauty of online games is that all usage is logged/trackable in some way so will soon know how real those numbers are..

  • Benno #10 4 years ago

    sorry mingster, but MMOs are pretty much PCs only lifeline when it comes to the game industry

    i will never buy a game on the PC that i can play on a conole, unless its an MMO

  • RickHard #11 4 years ago

    @ Benno

    Well, I prefer my FPS on my PC too : a joypad feels so clumsy ;)

  • Benno #12 4 years ago

    yeah i was just trolling :D

  • KillerMonkey #13 4 years ago

    "LOL If a joy pad feels clumbsy to you I suggest you get new hands.

    PC FPS are basically point and click games, no true skill. I can get head shot after head shot if I just point and click without need to aim."

    Yes, anyone can get headshots with just about any imput system..
    The question is, how fast can you do headshots?
    Mouse will always win here, in both speed and accuracy.

    Edited by 1 at 19/05/08 @ 17:48

  • KillerMonkey #14 4 years ago

    Yes, and using a joypad is just tilting a little nubby thing.. don't even need to point! No skill at all obviously.

  • Feanor #15 4 years ago

    If there was no skill, then everybody would do about the same in multiplayer.

  • KillerMonkey #16 4 years ago

    "If there was no skill, then everybody would do about the same in multiplayer."

    Exactly.. I'd get creamed on XBox live playing Halo 3 because I'm used to the mouse..
    Just like he would get his butt handed to him on CSS on the PC. But mouse > joysticks, so I'm OK with that.

    more edit:

    With a mouse you need a degree of skill to aim, line up the shot and then fire. It's faster and more precise but since when is that a bad thing? Everyone uses a mouse on the PC so we're on equal grounds. It's about who can direct their mouse to the opponents head the fastest. Same with your beloved nub. If you want a challenge, play online against people of equal or greater skill level. Or attach a brick to your mouse, if you don't want it to be weightless.
    Edited by 3 at 19/05/08 @ 18:38

  • KillerMonkey #17 4 years ago

    "nah mouse players have no skill, just point and click ...no skill at all imo. Thats why they like it more than joypads, its easy and you don't have to actually do much yourself."
    If it's so easy, I'd like to see you compete at clan level in PC FPS games. Go on, try.
    You actually have to do more, btw. With joypads, you move your thumb. With mouse, your wrist and arm. Requires far more coordination. It's not easy at all to get those 180 degree headshots in a split second.

    I'm not gonna argue anymore though, I need to do some stuff.

    Toodles.

  • davisorle #18 4 years ago

    @JSPOOLE

    lol dude. Are you such a noob or what? First of i don't think you'd play CS:S with a joypad. Secondly I bet your ass you can't even get in a good clan for CS:S cause simply by saying that its "click and point" and needs no skill it's sad to hear that. How many years have you been playing FPS games on the PC? Cause if more than 1 full then you need to think it over. There is a certain level of skill you can reach with a gamepad and a whole different thing when it comes to a mouse and a keyboard. And that's why there are so many different kind of devices you can buy. Like my Razer with the weight adjustment. Yeah a gamepad is maybe harder to use in FPS but seriously its sad to tell me that you prefer a gamepad. Simply cause you can't get the best out of an FPS with it.

  • CARL05 #19 4 years ago

    I play FPSs on both 360 and PC so this is an un-biast opinion:

    I don't think that all PC games are point and click, they require equal skill.
    People are saying it's much easier to get a headshot, but thats not true as it depends on ur type of mouse and if u can beat the guy who is also aiming at u. The controller is more simple I find since it is only one click to stab the guy in front, on PC u gotta find it first, if not, then ur a dead man, there are also less buttons on the controller to worry about.

    Therefore different controls suit different people, so shut up and go and play a game!!!

  • Bagg #20 4 years ago

    So, JSPOOLE, basically what you are saying is that mouse/keyboard is both easier to use, and allows you to "point and click" much faster than with a joypad. Which only proves that the mouse and keyboard is vastly superior to the joypad when it comes to gametypes such as first person shooters. Unless, as you say, you want it to be as difficult, and inefficient, as possible to use the gamecontroller.If the latter is true you could perhaps learn to use your asscheeks instead of your thumbs to control the analog sticks, thus proving your apparent "gaming skills".

  • Collie #21 4 years ago

    I bet this game features many beards. It's practically a rule of thumb when it comes to MMO games. Even the women have them.

  • Vandrius #22 4 years ago

    rofl @ the "mouse reqs no skill" comments.

    So, you want to use a more clunky and inaccurate FPS controller - ie, joypad- just to make it harder to aim? Or is it just that you like the auto-aim the vast majority of those games include (to some extent).

    PC gaming is awesome, for a couple reasons:
    1) MMOs. Consoles won't equal it, for a while at least. Why? Keyboards.
    2) FPS. I can't stand FPS on consoles... TF2 on PC is so much better than console.
    3) Mods. Games like WC3, SC, NWN... they have a lifespan so much greater than other games because they allow full-access user-generated content. WC3 is still fun to this day, as are the NWN's.

  • jaywalker3010 Verified Mastering Manager, Square Enix #23 4 years ago

    JSPOOLE -

    erm u do realise that most Console FPS games aide the gamer in shooting dont you. The area of `effect` for shots is increased vastly as its known that the movement of a joypad analogue stick is so short that its too inaccurate to allow 100% manual aiming at all times.. Yes games allow you to turn off these aides, but in all honesty that just turns down the sensitivity, oh and theres also the ubiquitous `zoom in` view which gives greater control but still not 100%..

    All console FPS's have to be simplified in the general gameplay stakes. Mouse/Keyboard is much more analogue, the movement of both combined means a much great degree of accuracy is achieveable therefore PC FPS' dont get this `auto aim` feature (actually i know some games DO give it on easier difficulty settings, but you get my point)

    To say theres no skill in mouse/keyboard is an insult to a lot of people (me included), check out this. http://ww w.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUbyirG2... can you do THAT on your joypad!?

    If you design a game purely to work on a platform of course its going to take advantage of its strengths.

    You claim to be a skilled gamer, but you seem to be just coming across as a console fanboy truly unwilling to understand that some things ARE better on PC, whilst SOME things are better on consoles. Racing games on PC, erm, without a wheel not fun, on console are fun even with Joypad, whoopee Console wins that one. Doesnt mean i go and insult the whole PC community.
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 09:03

  • hula hoops #24 4 years ago

    @ JSPOOLE:

    In my personal experience, playing MMORPG saves me a lot of money.

    It is true that I paid about £9 a month to play the game and I have been playing for like 3 years now. But during that time I only bought 3 full price game. Before that, I use to fork out at least £40 to buy at least one new release every month.

    Not to mention there are loads of free to play MMORPG out there.

  • Nill #25 4 years ago

    Everyone, say hello to our newest retard: JSPOOLE!