In an interview with Gameindustry.biz, Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas has stated that despite a very difficult first 12 months, their MMORPG Age of Conan is now once again showing positive signs and increasing subscription numbers. The MMO that was launched in May 2008 was received fairly well by critics, but soon proved to be bug-ridden and lacking sufficient end-game content to keep players attracted to the game for a continued period of time. Not all can be blamed on bugs and gliches however, as even Aas admits that despite the fact that many mechanics were just as they wanted them to be at time of release, they just weren’t good enough to make AoC a viable alternative to other MMOs on the market.
However, based on user feedback the game was almost entirely overhauled during the 14 months the service has been live so far. Â Apparently, this approach has paid off, as Funcom reports a gradual increase in subscribers to the game as well as an increasing lifespan of these subscriptions.
Age of Conan has faced many problems since May 2008, the most important of which was the shutting down of 31 servers and merging all users into 18 remaining servers in January 2009. Funcom has not disclosed exact figures revealing how many users the game currently has or how strong the increase in these numbers are. In the same interview, the Funcom CEO once more restated that they see Age of Conan as a long-term project, and will therefore continue to support it even if the problems the company faces remain for the near future.
Rather interesting. Has few times re-read for this purpose to remember. Thanks for interesting article. Waiting for trackback
I’m probably going back to it in the near future, at least to check out the new additions and to mess around with my Necromancer. Just got a 14 day free “retry” code in my mail, so once I get the free time I’ll definitely use it.
The thing about Funcom is that they are perhaps experts at creating believable and immersive worlds, but they aren’t to good in the practical gameplay side.
And no, I’m not just saying that becouse I’m Norwegian.
Yes you are, Mats. 😉