Age of Conan is going free to play!

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Age of Conan is going free to play!

 

 

Funcom just announced that their gritty MMO, Age of Conan, will be adopting a hybrid free-to-play business model (meaning there will be an optional subscription and cash shop available, much like LOTRO and DDO). The upcoming update will also add a lot of new content at the same time, including new areas, items, and storylines. We sat down with Age of Conan’s Executive Producer, Craig Morrison to talk about how their hybrid business model will work, what they’ll be charging for, and why AoC’s mature content and siege-focused combat systems still has a lot to offer MMO players!

 

For full details, be sure to read the official announcement and FAQ on Age of Conan’s forums.

 

PC Gamer: What was it that made the team decide that now is the right time to go free to play?

Craig Morrison: To be honest, the possibility [of going free-to-play] is something we been keeping under consideration for several years now. As a company, we’ve never been afraid of mixing up the business model if it serves the product well. BLC [Funcom's recent F2P MOBA title] is certainly another good example of that. This isn’t new ground for us. We’ve always felt that [going free-to-play] is a natural progression for an MMO title at a certain stage in it’s life cycle.

 

PCG: What motivated you to go with the hybrid F2P model in particular, as opposed to a F2P-only game?

CM: Most of the business models that borrow the ‘Free to Play’ mantle, in particular in western gaming, like Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Everquest 2 Extended, or our own Anarchy Online, are really a hybrid offering, as they retain an element of subscription in addition to a micro-transaction store. We were really pioneers with this format back when we did it in 2005 with Anarchy Online, so it was natural for us that we would adopt a similar approach for Age of Conan.

 

PCG: Do you see this hybrid F2P model as the future of MMO business models?

CM: To be honest, I think it already is established. The future is now as it were. All it means is that you can create revenue streams on these games by both subscription and micro-transactions, while allowing players to play portions of the game for free. Even those games that are still full subscription titles are incorporating item sales (like the special mounts in World of Warcraft, or the vanity items in the NCSoft store for Aion)

 

 

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