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Age of Conan doubles revenue since going F2P

Funcom's fantasy MMORPG sees registrations surge by 300,000 since it relaunched as Unchained in May.

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In May, Funcom announced that it would be relaunching 2008's well-received fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures under a new name--Age of Conan: Unchained--and a new business model: free-to-play.

Unchained has been bloody successful for Funcom.
Unchained has been bloody successful for Funcom.

The move has paid quick dividends, as Funcom today announced that since shifting from a subscription-only model to free-to-play, Age of Conan: Unchained has attracted 300,000 new players and has seen its total revenue surge to double the level it stood at before. Unchained has free and premium gamers playing alongside one another, with free users able to purchase items in the new in-game store.

Additionally, Unchained will expand later this year with the launch of new content tied to the upcoming Conan the Barbarian movie, which hits theaters on August 18. The new add-on is called Savage Coast of Turan and introduces new world areas, as well as monsters, characters, and player equipment.

Age of Conan isn't the first MMORPG to make a successful switch to free-to-play. In January, Turbine announced that Lord of the Rings Online had tripled its revenue since adopting the new business model.

For more on the title, check out GameSpot's review of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, as well as GameSpot's review of the Rise of the Godslayer add-on.

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