Age of Conan nets 700,000 subscribers

By Oli Welsh Published 1 July, 2008

But is it really the No. 2 MMO in the West?

Funcom has sent out its latest chest-beating press release for its MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, announcing the creation of an impressive 700,000 player accounts for the month-old game.

To put that in perspective: long-running space-trading cult EVE Online is known to have around 250,000 active player accounts, while World of Warcraft famously has 10 million. Korean hits Lineage and Lineage II are thought to have around a million subscribers apiece.

Funcom also boasted that "it is also clear that Age of Conan has taken the position as the undisputed #2 subscription MMO in the Western world".

There are some who might dispute that. Created accounts are not the same as active ones; not all of those 700,000 players have necessarily chosen to continue playing the game. What's more, a great many of the accounts that are still active will still be on their free trial period of 30 days - so their owners are not committed subscribers yet.

Meanwhile, British developer Jagex claims to have over a million paying accounts for its Java-based MMO RuneScape.

We won't know the real picture of Age of Conan's success for a few months yet, but it's clear the game is off to a strong start. We'll be following its development closely on Eurogamer MMO.

Picture of Oli.

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 (51) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • Gaol #1 4 years ago

    Less than 100k within 2 months.

    Lots of boxes sold on the back of inaccurate reviews, but people won't stay.

  • Benno #2 4 years ago

    They will, in a years time it will be thriving I imagine. I am certinaly planning on returning when they fix stuff up a bit.

  • sebsal #3 4 years ago

    Left for Vanguard. Vanguard is, at last, an excellent game

  • TSYNDMonkfish #4 4 years ago

    I think I'm going to stick with Conan for a while longer, at least until I experience the end game pvp.

    I doubt ill be playing it this time next year (the pull of EvE is still strong) but its been good fun so far so you never know.

  • Olemak #5 4 years ago

    I used to play MMORPG's quite a bit, and this really should attract my attention. But - I just don't want to play it, or any other MMO any more. I've finally beaten the habit! Thank you Crom!

    /Goes back to GTA IV, grinding towards 100 % complete.

  • Rirekon #6 4 years ago

    "it is also clear that Age of Conan has taken the position as the undisputed #2 subscription MMO in the Western world"

    Lie, as mentioned in the article RuneScape has a million subscribers
    Edited by Rirekon at 01/07/08 @ 11:32

  • viper_h #7 4 years ago

    Thought this game was horrible.

    Coming from a year out of MMOs entirely, all this game convinced me of is how much better WoW was, so I resubscribed to WoW.

    Aside from the lack of anything fun to do, there was very little humour to the game, and I prefer WoW's art style. Also I had a horrible graphics issue where all the textures were incredibly blurry until I was right next to them.

    The best thing about this game was the tits, and the novelty of that lasted about 10 seconds.

  • Darkjinxter #8 4 years ago

    I've cancelled AoC, also playing Vanguard now, which is greatly improved since its' ropey launch.

  • paulf #9 4 years ago

    how did i know you'd be first post on this one gaol ? ;)

    funnily enough though the more I play conan the more im coming around to your viewpoint, I've subscribed for the time being but really cant see myself renewing next month unless the game improves - will they hurry up with Warhammer online so we can put this one to rest :)

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #10 4 years ago

    As a casual MMOer, Guild Wars wins hands-down for me.

  • SleepyMagpie #11 4 years ago

    Care to wager if they'll dare post their number of subscribers next month? ^^

  • Drogul #12 4 years ago

    Bought the damn game (collectors edition - great art book by the way), huge disapointment so when free period expires no subscription for me. Ill wait and see how it develops, because right now this game sucks.

  • Pirotic #13 4 years ago

    player accounts created eh? that sounds to like they are including accounts which have expired after the free 30 days.
    Edited by Pirotic at 01/07/08 @ 12:05

  • Benno #14 4 years ago

    If they are including accounts like mine, who quit after the free month then things might be a lot worse.

  • Gaol #15 4 years ago

    Of course they are, its the number of keys used. Like I say, less than 100k within 2 months in terms of active subs; presumably a lot less a year from now.

    Unfortunately all those boxes sold will help pay off Funcoms debts and keep it afloat a little while. Pity the videogames press weren't willing or able to warn us all off before we bankrolled this abomination.

  • KillerMonkey #16 4 years ago

    "If they are including accounts like mine, who quit after the free month then things might be a lot worse."

    To be honest, I haven't heard much (if any) good about Conan lately. The launch hype has dried out already.

  • gremly #17 4 years ago

    Bought it, Then put it on the shelf, Just dosent do anything for me the review made it out to be the Holy Grail of MMO, But alas, Stuck with WoW. I even paid to get into the early acesss :p

  • dirtysteve #18 4 years ago

    I would renew if there were any timecards available, is anyone else having trouble finding them?

  • kestral #19 4 years ago

    any word on guest passes? I'd like to know.
    Edited by kestral at 01/07/08 @ 13:24

  • Atropos #20 4 years ago

    Mmm, I've read the mostly backlashy comments on the boards lately, and as usual it seems the people playing are too busy playing to whine - as evidenced by the fact that I recognize the same people bashing the game on several boards. I'm playing it now, and I have to say I am mightily impressed. Having played every MMORPG since Ultima Online, I haven't felt this way since I first tried the Beta of WoW.
    It is NOT a WoW beater as it stands, it is the meaty alternative. But I will certainly renew my subscription when the trial runs out in a few days. It is, quite simply, FUN.

    Also, you people have short memories. When WoW came out it was far, far more broken than Conan has been at any point after launch.

  • Gaol #21 4 years ago

    @Atropos

    Your comment seemed believable then you dropped:

    "Also, you people have short memories. When WoW came out it was far, far more broken than Conan has been at any point after launch. "

    Thats utterly crazy.
    Edited by Gaol at 01/07/08 @ 13:46

  • SpeedyThing #22 4 years ago

    Rubbish @ Atropos - Warcraft (love it or hate it) was lauded for its stable release.

    Yes there were a few minor things but it set the benchmark for MMO releases and still hasn't been surpassed

  • Atropos #23 4 years ago

    I suppose that differs from each person's experience. I had a character wiped and another get a quest-line broken through mysterious circumstances, and was given the advice to "try the quest-line again with another character". I'm still scared of banks in MMORPG's after seeing my uber-loot disappear forever in WoW. WoW at launch was a great game, but PvP sucked, half the quests petered out into nothing, the end-game was buggy and barely there, there was no auction house, etc etc. They fixed it. It got great. Conan will be too, I reckon. And, just like with WoW, despite the bugs I am enjoying myself immensely.
    Edited by Atropos at 01/07/08 @ 13:53

  • Macross #24 4 years ago

    Agreed Conan was great fun, I didnt re-sub but thats because i was enjoying Empyrian Age on EVE too much :) I honestly dont understand these people saying it sucks, it really doesnt. It just doesnt have the same level as content as WoW yet. Give it a chance.

    I'm defiantely gonna go back and play conan more over the coming months once ive completely raped my bank balance in eve and cant buy any more ships to fight in!

  • qoobah #25 4 years ago

    Heh, looks like it's good style to bash on AoC lately;) So let me join in - the game is buggy as hell, incomplete in terms of content, and a general mess in the area of UI and interaction. I'm not renewing my subscription mostly due to heavy instancing breaking the immersion, and that's what sells an MMORPG for me.

    However I would disagree that it's beyond hope of improvement, and people will leave en-masse. It's true that lately Funcom seems to be mostly talking instead of fixing stuff, but in 2-3 months I can easily see the game becoming better and more coherent. I might reconsider returning then, looking past the infuriating instances, to enjoy what looks like the only alternative to WoW in terms of fantasy MMO. At least till WAR comes out.

    Seems like Gaol is on some personal vendetta against the game, I'd chill out a bit man, see how things go, because as it stands now, nothing is set in stone. If Funcom gets to work and fills the game with more content, quickly hammers out the obvious bugs and those poor development decisions which can be fixed, AoC still has a chance to grow and be well. However if they don't, then prolly it'll be as you say - only rabid fans will stay with it when WotLK and WAR roll out their big guns.

  • viper_h #26 4 years ago

    I agree with all the things Gaol says about this game. It's an abomination, and I can't believe i dropped 35 notes to play a beta.

  • Erinan #27 4 years ago

    Cancelled my subscription a week after buying the game. The missus played up to level 10 before she got bored, I managed to reach level 18 (!). I don't even miss the game. Heck, I never think about it even. First time this happened to me with MMOs.

  • Antwandemarco #28 4 years ago

    AOC is quite buggy at this stage but thats really to be expected, things will iron out with time. I am on level 33 and i am really enjoying the game so far. The combat is entertaining, collisions while a small thing make it feel so much more tangible. The areas look stunning, lots of variation and character.

    It's certainly not perfect but it's far from awful.

  • Fusey #29 4 years ago

    I cancelled before my trial was up as I thought the game felt too rough, unfinished and simplistic.

    Some of the issues are due to the core engine that they wont be able to change without rewriting it from the ground up.

  • anomagnus #30 4 years ago

    anyone remember Vanguard

    remember how it was SLATED when it launched

    funny how those memories have been forgotten once its patched up

    conans launch was 10 times that of vanguards. Anyone that comes on here and judges an MMORPG's future based on its first month, hell even its first 6 months, is literally, literally talking out his/her ass

  • Erinan #31 4 years ago

    You can't really compare Vanguard's depth and seamless world with AoC's dullness and instanced zones, can you? There's something wrong within the core of AoC, that's very different from Vanguard.

  • UncleLou #32 4 years ago

    The haters are strong with this one.

    Level 39, still enjoying it, and if you think Conan is off to a particularly rough start, you obviously have never ever played an MMORPG before.

  • rogueJT #33 4 years ago


    Sure you shouldn't go near a MMO until 6 months after it's released anyway?

  • Fusey #34 4 years ago

    @UncleLou

    I feel some responsibility to other users to warn them of how crap AoC is and not to fall for Funcom's cleverly worded press release.

    What Funcom are trying to make you think is that they have 700,000 active subscribers, but in actual fact they have 700,000 accounts which may be active or not.

    It would be wrong of me not to point this out so unsuspecting punters don't waste their money thinking AoC has a rapidly growing user base when in fact I can see that by this time next week, due to trials ending, that the active subscribers will be dropping like flies.

    I await the announcement of merging servers within the next month.


  • Lorkster #35 4 years ago

    Men and the wife are enjoying our time in AoC immensly.

    I can't really understand what other launch MMOs people have played since this launch is probably the smoothest one I've experienced. No crash problems, no gamestopping bugs, stable servers. The only irritating parts are the memory leak that turned up a few patches ago and a few quest series that didn't work all the way through. Compared to waiting to friggin log in for up to an hour during the early days of WoW or the steaming piles of crap that both EQ and EQ2 were at launch (Don't mention Vanguard. We don't talk about Vanguard), this is almost paradise. LotRO is the only game that's been smoother for me and the wife (and once again, that just stands for us. It's worked like clockwork and we've almost not encountered a single bug)

    I can completely respect not liking the instancing or the art direction though, although I can't understand the complaints about small zones. I takes forever to cross some of them on foot. I prefer no zones at all, but I much more prefer a game that actually works (for me at least). I tried the unmentionable the other week and it STILL runs like a sick dog on my rig, while I can max out AoC without a problem at all.

    Oh well, thanks to WoW the marked is larger nowadays and there's a place for another fantasy mmo :) (I wouldn't put any great hopes on WAR though, at least not judging by what I've seen of its current state)

  • AOFanboi #36 4 years ago

    The purty graphics do not weigh up for the insane install size, long zoning load times, intense machine demands, bugs (like clipping that sends you to the bottom of the world), broken and pathetic crafting and grief-friendly PvP.

    I can fit CoH, LotRO and WOW in the space this game takes up , and they will run better and have more fun packed inside them.

    Maybe I am just angry at the stupid "I read press releases and played the intro section" non-review of ACHA in GamesTM though.

    Edit: The quests, however, are good. Mostly. You have to compensate a little for the genre's love for kill X Foobies and loot Y fiebies.
    Edited by AOFanboi at 01/07/08 @ 17:13

  • anomagnus #37 4 years ago

    Erinan

    Vanguards launch was/is still spoken of in hushed tones when discussing disastrous launches.

    the outpouring of internet rage was massive, with every tom dick and harry proudly proclaiming themselves an expert on the subject of MMO's, and declaring Vanguard DEAD. Not just dead, but an abject failure, which would never be mentioned again, for fear of cursing their children.

    I'm not really comparing Conan to Vanguard. I'm simply saying, Vanguard suffered greatly during its launch, but has reach some stability, and appears to be doing quite well. I know some people playing it, and they have nothing but praise for it.

    Now, if something good can come from the pig of a launch, how much better will AoC do, having a much smoother, though not perfect, launch.

    Take for example Gaol's opening comment. Now, this isn't a rant against Goal, but its a bit of a sweeping generalistion to proclaim that people won't stay.

    A year from now, i expect Conan to be ticking along with about 1 mil to 1.5 mil subscribers, as it hits stride.

    Now, i may be wrong, but i'll make that call once the game has been given a fair chance.

    4 weeks is in NO way a fair chance for something as fluid and changeable as a MMO

    As for the complaint about install size, come ON, we measure hard drives in hundreds of gigabytes, maybe even terabytes. It's a crap argument, how many of us are actually in REAL danger of running out of space? 1% of gamers?
    Edited by anomagnus at 01/07/08 @ 17:14

  • Erinan #38 4 years ago

    I was there for the launch of Vanguard :) It was pretty bad, yup, but mainly in terms of server stability and bugs. The game was/is very deep in terms of gameplay and world. And it had a good crafting system at least. The world was huge, the diplomacy system very innovative, it felt immersive and compelling.

    There never was anything that kept me playing on AoC, the game was clearly not for me.

  • Gaol #39 4 years ago

    Different problems, Vanguard, the engine was so appallingly written. I was in the beta very early and mentioned the frame rate on the forums, saying the game was toast if it wasn't optimised. To my surprise, Brad McQuaid responded saying he felt 15fps was more than acceptable for an mmorpg (15fps that at the time you needed 4gb ram to achieve).

    Even to this day your fps will drop as you stare at a city wall and the cpu trys to calculate all the other buildings behind the friggin wall and out of sight. The game would be long dead if SoE hadn't decided to offer it life support on All Access, and deservedly so.

    But it did have *reasonable* combat, class dynamics, itemisation and crafting; and the world had the potential to be immersive in certain areas. So still a bit better than AoC then.

  • omerga #40 4 years ago

    I have renewed my sub

    A bit buggy yes, but great fun to play and glorious to look at

  • trixter©ú #41 4 years ago

    My account expired around two weeks - they have far too many issues at this point (it was released far too early imo).

    WoW - I'm still not ready to go back yet...think I over did things initially. Warhammer may get my focus next first...if things don't pan out there then I'll either give Eve the focus I believe it deserves or just stick with WoW.

  • Kropotkin #42 4 years ago

    I think they will settle down to around 100k subscribers if they are lucky within the next few months. The end game is very lacking and the gameplay is derivative in the extreme. All in all a very dull gaming experience IMHO.

  • Emth #43 4 years ago

    Level 50 gear is superior to level 80 gear. There's no bind on equip system so the economy is already becoming flooded, only people with absolute state of the art computers (and only if it's nvidia gfx powered) will be able to participate in non slide show sieges, and overall there is no character progression once you reach 80.

    Apparently AoC 'won't be an itemcentric game', but it needs to centre around something. What are MMORPGs all about kids? that's right, persistent character progression, have a cookie.

  • AOFanboi #44 4 years ago

    <em>There's no bind on equip system</em>

    There is BOP in the sense of "cannot be traded" items, though; maybe they thought someone not being able to sell used items is too unrealistic (as if the plethora of other Uncanny Valley moments are absent). But, yeah, balance out the window.

  • Atropos #45 4 years ago

    Yeah, I stopped playing WoW because it got too dull for me. I've tried most mmorpgs since then, and while EVE is a greatness, I do not have the time for it. Conan , for me, is FUN. Also, I have yet to encounter a single bug, at level 45. I know this flies in the face of forums, but... I just haven't. I'm running the game quite nicely on a macbook, xp via bootcamp.

    Also. Seriously fellas. You have some seriously selective memories about WoW. It was a fun, immensely rewarding game at launch. It was also bugged to shit and broken in about a million ways. The thing is, it was so MUCH fun compared to what came before it, that we forgave it its flaws. It was about eight months before they fixed it into something like what they had planned at launch (I base this on an interview I did with one of the lead designers). Now, AoC has been well smooth so far, apparently smoother for me than for some... But shit, it is a cool game, at the end of the day. I still profess that I am in love with it in a way I haven't been since WoW made me neglect internet porn for 2 years.

  • SentientNr6 #46 4 years ago

    @Atropos

    I second that. I started playing on US Server short after launch it was as least as buggy as Conan is now.
    I played a hunter and had to live with quite some annoyig bugs which they fixed 6 months or so after I cancelled my subscription.

    AoC is bugged right now, no doubt about it, but it's playable and fun.

    Anyway 700.000 start subscriptions is not bad even if only 50% continue playing.

  • anomagnus #47 4 years ago

    I think a lot of people seem to forget that every MMO that launched, launched with an incomplete feature kit, and server problems.

    I remember waiting for 6 months before even trying WoW, as i listened to my friends complain about the server queue times, etc.

    Its just strange that the same things crop up in EVERY SINGLE mmo launch:-

    1) End game not complete
    2) Server instability
    3) Loot issues
    4) Poor PVE/PVP/both

    And you get the same people, who were NEVER prepared to give the game a chance, come up crying the same thing within in four weeks, 'This game is DEAD, a pox on your children, developer'

    And yet, the truth doesn't back it up. Most of the MMO's still go on, some may be limping, sure (TR springs to mind), but others continue at their own pace, doing their own thing.

    Quite frankly, if i had to choose between a game like WoW, bland but amusing, filled with every elitist jerk, and childish player, and a smaller, but more unique experience like conan, i would choose conan.

    Lets be REALLY clear on this. A launch is in no way an indicator of ultimate success. As others have said, take the rose tinted classes off, and remember the WoW launch as it REALLY happened, not the fucking day glow, happy happy nice version people have suddenly replaced it with.

    So, lets come back to this in six months, and then a year.

    I can bet you top dollar, all the bitchers and moaners won't be anywhere near the conan news items then

    Oh, in the 12 month re-review, i'm sure the same wankers will pop up, 'its still shite' etc, etc, but the internet is filled with these nay sayers.

    Variety is good. WoW is no variety. It is an extremely polished game, that occasionally shows brilliance, but is ruined by the fact its a magnet for shitty people.

  • Dizzy #48 4 years ago

    "I can fit CoH, LotRO and WOW in the space this game takes up , and they will run better and have more fun packed inside them. "

    Well you *are* mentioning the 3 best MMORPGs ever ;)

    I stopped playing Conan (because I couldn't live with the so so performance)... but, by design, I think it is a pretty good effort and will be a very good game in a few months. I will probably return next year to see how it is all playing out. ATM LOTRO and WoW still reign supreme for playability, fun and performance and are the best picks for MMO newbies ;)

  • Stonker #49 4 years ago

    Make that 699,999 subscribers. I'm cancelling. It's shit.

  • Aria #50 4 years ago

    699,998, me too... I'll stick with Lotro...

  • Trikk #51 4 years ago

    Best MMO on the market right now for PvPers. Not even the top players have fully discovered the possibilities and depth of the game mechanics. Shields, dodging, positioning, feats, gear customization, mounted combat, healing mechanics, collision, there's so many variables to master it's just ridiculous. I have some doubts on whether or not they will be able to keep patching at this rate for long, but if they are smart and keep developing the game as they have so far it'll be top 3 easily the coming years.

    However, lootwhores and carebears won't have much to enjoy in Age of Conan, so it'll never be the #1 MMO.