Age of Conan turns corner, says Funcom Related content
-
Exclusive: Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer trailer
-
Latest Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures screenshots
- Preview Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer [19]
Age of Conan turns corner, says Funcom News
MMO PC News by Oli Welsh
In Funcom's latest financial report, there's some encouraging news regarding the performance of its troubled MMO Age of Conan - although nothing as concrete as subscriber numbers.
The report for the first quarter of 2009 says that the fantasy MMO's subscriber retention has improved and "a significant increase in new customers in Q1 compared to Q4 has led to a stable and solid subscriber base". Players are spending longer in the game on average, too.
The company reported earnings of USD 7.7m, largely from Age of Conan subscriptions. That's actually a dip from the USD 8.7m it made in the last quarter of 2008. But the painful USD 23m losses of that period have been replaced by a modest USD 1.5m operating profit.
Elsewhere, the report indulges in some self-congratulation about the Secret World reveal at GDC and mentions two free-to-play MMOs that Funcom has in development.
The games, revealed in 2008's final report, are a Java-based game aimed at kids and a browser game with a broader market. The latest news is that they are "progressing well" and expected to go into beta at the end of this year.
Funcom launched a charm offensive on Age of Conan last month aimed at encouraging players to give the game a second chance, opening free trials (we still have some keys if you want one). We took a look and found it much improved. Another substantial update to the game is expected soon, including a complete overhaul of its RPG system.
Are you excited about Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures on PC?
View Eurogamer readers most anticipated games
Related Games
Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures
Latest Features
-
Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures Preview [19]
-
Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures Interview [58]
-
Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures Interview [17]
-
Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures Interview [28]
-
Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures Review [185]
Latest Videos
Exclusive: Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer trailer [8] 18 August, 2009
Exclusive: Age of Conan devs talk change [3] 9 July, 2009
Latest News
-
Play Age of Conan free forever [35]
-
Get on Secret World beta with Conan sub [14]
-
More AOC subs "initiatives" in pipeline [20]
-
Age of Conan free trial is back [12]
-
Secret World delayed by Funcom lay-offs [16]
Latest Screenshots
18 August, 2009 [1]
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
Comments: 1-26 of 26 in total
|
Slabbathepave
18/05/09 @ 10:07
0
I have been quite vocal in the past regarding AoC's disastrous release. I thought i would give the trial a whizz through anyway and decide for myself.
Its very good and very stable. Excellent performance so far. Alot of very nice UI changes too, a global chat channel (should have been in on release for such a heavily instanced game) really livens up the game world, nowhere near as disjointed as before. Plenty of people around even in Tortage. I went for a PvE server this time to avoid all the massive twats and its made a huge difference to how much overall fun AoC is. If they get the next patch right and the itemisation and movesets arent too butchered i think i'll subscribe again. *Keeps an eye on Craig Morrison* |
|
0
Last time I subbed I moved all my characters from aquilonia RP-PVP server to the straight PVP server, using the free transfer. It was bloody awful, everywhere you went there were spawn campers and exploiters, trying to quest was suicidal. The problem is i actually enjoy PVP its fun, fast and brutal. But you end up having to treat every player as a mob. But sadly I don't think I can transfer my characters to the PVE server, which is annoying as I have a level 78 Bear Shaman who was awesome to play. Perhaps i'll start fresh once the next big update comes along.
|
|
iokthemonkey
18/05/09 @ 10:39
0
In other "news" I heard the other day that something happened and somebody said something.
|
|
spudsbuckley
18/05/09 @ 10:40
0
I started playing a couple of weeks ago because of the positive stuff i was hearing about the game lately (and the fact i got a key for Offgamers for less than €10) and i'm really impressed with it. I'm leveling a Priest of Mitra and a Tempest of Set at the moment and they're both great fun and very different to play even though they're the same archetype. The ToS in particular is a absolute breeze to level because they're just a buzz saw of a class.
I'm enjoying leveling in it much more than i ever did in WoW, CoH, LOTRO or GW. I've staying up past 2am the past couple of nights when i really shouldn't have :D |
|
notmyrealname
18/05/09 @ 16:15
0
it's not that odd to fnid so many keys still left. How many EG players want to play an MMO at all? Aslo, thsoe taht do are probably already addicted to one. Also you need an account to ask for them, and it'sjust 4 days long. I can think of many mmorpgs that give free time too.
8000 left out of 20.000 isn't that surprising to me. |
|
iokthemonkey
18/05/09 @ 16:21
0
8000 left out of 20.000 isn't that surprising to me.
---- Turbine/Codemasters gave away 2000 digital copies of LOTRO (essentially the same deal as this except you got 30 days to play) and they all went within about 25 minutes. |
|
spudsbuckley
18/05/09 @ 16:25
0
The free trial on the Conan website is 7 days isn't it?
Why would anyone bother with a 4 day key from EG in that case? |
|
ExplodingClown
18/05/09 @ 16:56
0
Picked it up for £5.98 in the Game sale and enjoying it greatly. Not so po-faced as LOTRO, not so infested with Roflcopters and general twats as WoW (plus doesn't look like a goddamn cartoon), and I haven't met one Furry so far.
Top violence too. |
|
Darkjinxter
18/05/09 @ 20:48
0
I'm still slugging in out in Hyboria, almost a year now.
It does need more, and it needs it soon. There's always something around the corner with Funcom, that corner better be imminent for their sake and the sake of the game. It's now a game I enjoy more than LotRO. There's no doubt the game has come far in the last few months, but there's masses of improvement needed. I hope Funcom can come up with the goods very soon. |
|
spudsbuckley
18/05/09 @ 20:56
0
You on Crom Darkjinxter? Name is familiar.
Patch 1.05 seems to be the next big thing. |
|
TheJediWookie
18/05/09 @ 23:44
0
I tried this a month after release on a PvE server and really enjoyed Tortage, thought the combat was a lot more interesting than WoW, LOTRO et al and I loved the fact that there were voices (with fairly good voice acting IMO). Got out of Tortage and I was stunned by the contrast, no voice acting, dull quests, huge amounts of nothing and quite a few random crashes. Needless to say I cancelled my subscription sharpish.
I might give this another shot if it really is that improved. |
|
spudsbuckley
18/05/09 @ 23:57
0
I didn't play at launch but i'm enjoying the post Tortage bits anyway.
I'm absolutely in love with the game and my Tempest. |
|
TheJediWookie
19/05/09 @ 10:51
0
ZuluHero, that was exactly how I felt. I'd love for them to have brought the rest of the game up to the same standard as Tortage, but I just can't see them being able to do it; especially given their financial situation (AoC hasn't made them anywhere near as much as they'd hoped for). I would love to be proven wrong though.
|
|
Darkjinxter
20/05/09 @ 19:40
0
You on Crom Darkjinxter? Name is familiar.
Patch 1.05 seems to be the next big thing. Yes I am Spudsbuckley, 80 barb, still hanging in there. See you there. |
Comments: 1-26 of 26 in total
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
