Conan's pillage delayed

Hyborian Adventures MMO game from Funcom gets another release date; PC version now set to hit retail in late October, no date for Xbox 360 version.

Pillaging villages and crushing enemies doesn't require a lot of thought and preparation on the part of barbarians. Unfortunately, making a game about them does take time--a lot, in fact.

Well, back to stretching I guess.

Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in the universe created by author Robert E. Howard, was originally scheduled to be released in 2006. The game was then delayed to the first quarter of 2007, then later delayed to the second quarter of 2007 when Eidos agreed to copublish the game.

Now the game has been hit with another delay to allow time to "further hone the qualities of the game," says the pair of publishers. The PC version of Age of Conan will now launch on October 30, 2007.

"We believe that by spending even more time and effort into polishing and enhancing the game we will ensure that the game reaches its full potential in terms of quality and subscriber base," said Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. "The prolonged development time reflects our ambition to meet and exceed the expectations of our fans for this game."

Funcom and Eidos did not give any specific release date for the recently announced Xbox 360 version, saying only, "Following the release of the PC version a dedicated console version will be released for the Xbox 360."

For more information on Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, read GameSpot's previous coverage.

71 Comments

  • MaxPayneJr

    Posted Sep 9, 2007 11:57 am PT

    Age of Conan or WAR? hmmm

  • Alathien

    Posted Mar 5, 2007 10:01 am PT

    I waited for Funcom's Dreamfall game as it was postponed as well, and it was really worth the wait. By the looks of it, this one will be worth the wait too!

  • ewopb

    Posted Feb 10, 2007 11:12 pm PT

    game looks good, but i would expect more delays...far as i see it, no one will be able to take control of the mmorpg market, but it's who comes closest to blizzard, so far my money is on warhammer online....good license, good look, solid material

  • chakan2

    Posted Jan 29, 2007 3:28 pm PT

    Place your bets. Connan or Duke Nuke 'em Forever first?

  • Riverwolf007

    Posted Jan 29, 2007 10:19 am PT

    Real person translation from marketing speak = by fall everyone will hit lvl 70 on wow and be looking for something new

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Jan 29, 2007 9:40 am PT

    Waiting for WoW:BC effect to wear off?

  • NastyFreestyler

    Posted Jan 29, 2007 6:34 am PT

    I hope they'll make it right, if they delayed it this much.

  • John_of_Fire

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 8:23 pm PT

    A 360 MMO that is not Final Fantasy or Phantasy Star. Sounds good to me. Competing with WOW on the PC...good luck.

  • DrogosIronfistcg

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 6:19 pm PT

    Who cares..the MMORG genre is too clogged as is.

  • wenbin09

    Posted Jan 28, 2007 8:24 am PT

    Another delayed game..

  • joedellamorte

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 4:26 pm PT

    Take a look at those screenies. At least the graphics seem better than in any other MMO so far. Can't wait to try it myself!

  • Slash_out

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 10:37 am PT

    I did not even know that this game existed, and i will probably forget it when waking up tomorow.

  • jknight5422

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 9:24 am PT

    I tell you. I foresee goodtimes ahead for 360 users. We have Mass
    Effect, Shadowrun, Fallout 3, & now a Conan MMO & we haven't
    touched Halo 3 yet. We have Gears, the coup de grat on my purchasing a 360. The tears running down my cheeks are tears
    of joy!

    Ah, and if it doesn't turn out to be good, I can fall back on the PC. hehe.

  • Dreski83

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 4:00 am PT

    With the recent release of goodies like WoW:BC and new updates for Elders, I don't blame them for taking their time to hone in... whatever that may be...
    Maybe with the extra time they can bring a lil something new and fresh to the genre.

  • STARS_Splinter

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 1:09 am PT

    bah! I wanna play it!

  • Kravyn81

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 11:51 pm PT

    I liked the original title way better: Conan: Hyperbole Adventures.

  • B4PH0M37

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 10:32 pm PT

    *SADFACE* thats poopy

    and i was really hoping this game would come out early too oh well, the longer they take the more they can perfect the game

  • ketsuatama

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 10:11 pm PT

    Like all good things, too many MMOs will eventually make it stale and kill it off.

  • Alcotamaysees

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 9:24 pm PT

    Looks pretty good to me. But hey, I'm not a developer.

  • neovota

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 9:05 pm PT

    no ps3?...............

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 5:26 pm PT

    Well I don't think I'd get this game anyway, but 'm sure it'll be a good game. I love the Conan movies and all but not sure about playing a game of it

  • thorsen-ink GameSpot staff member

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 3:41 pm PT

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=PkbB-X9654s > this is pretty effin' hilarious.

  • barlienb

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 3:38 pm PT

    My guess is that Funcom don't want to make another AO. With that I mean the launch of Anarchy Online. Good that developers use the time that is needed to make it as good as it can be. Cause a start like AO had, would kill any game. No mater how huge the fan base is. Well, a damn shame. But look at least i can look at the bright side, by then I will have upgraded to Vista and DX 10.

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:56 pm PT

    Delays... nothing new.

  • Ryvvn

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:48 pm PT

    well they just lost one subscriber....

    I was planning on playing this on its release up until Warhammer came out but now, provided Warhammer is still on track for release later this year, I won't be able to play both and well... Warhammer wins.

  • SPHYNXA

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:47 pm PT

    Shucks...

    This is probobly my most anticipated '07 title currently, and although I'm never bothered by delays as there's always plenty of other games to fill in the time, I was really hoping this would show up before the busy gaming-days of Fall so I could get some concrete time put into the game, and subsequently decide if I wanted to continue doing so into 2008. Now that it's delayed until the Fall when many, many big blockbusters will be coming out... it's play-time for me just got shattered.

  • kamicolo

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:35 pm PT

    Here's hoping to a good online fighter *sips tea*

  • DS_fan_atic

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:34 pm PT

    interesting franchise choice...Conan...

  • BigDaveyDogz

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:34 pm PT

    Conan on ecstacy with glowsticks!!

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=PkbB-X9654s

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:31 pm PT

    more time to make the game the better...maybe people will start playing this game more because burning crusade seems to be unpopular..

  • ultimate_zero

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:24 pm PT

    I wonder how this will turn out.

  • thorsen-ink GameSpot staff member

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:10 pm PT

    Well, at least now I won't be torn between Mass Effect and this.

  • CheddarLimbo

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:04 pm PT

    More often than not, you can't spend too much time making a game look and feel better, so this will be good, I guess.

    On the other hand, they're trying some neat new mechanics with the Conan game, and if they don't hurry up and put this game out already, someone else will make a game that is better.

  • ReaperXxxx

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 2:00 pm PT

    I've said it once and I'll say it a thousand times, I'd rather see a game delayed multiple time than be released before it is completed. You hear that Bethesda? Star Trek: Legacy what?

  • BloodMist

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:54 pm PT

    I am reeeeally rooting for this game, and hoping that against all the odds, it will be a good game.It's not easy to make a quality MMO, let alone one that seems as different as Conan will be, so if they wanna spend that much time on it, it's perfectly fine with me.

  • Angryduck67

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:52 pm PT

    It will benefit this game in the long run to delay it. Looks like they learned a bit from the AO launch.

  • Lord_of_Dark

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:51 pm PT

    NO!!!!!!!!!

  • digitalheadbutt

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:46 pm PT

    ghsacidman said:
    Quite frankly... I'd rather play War Craft anyway. Conan, of all the movies you could make an MMO after, they pick Conan! The setting and story of the films just doesn't make sense for a MMO to me. Mostly cause, if you can't be Conan... What good is a Conan game?

    Conan was a series of books long before it was a movie. Damned good pulp/action novels actually, which WoW borrows from extensively. So don't write it off so casually. There was Conan before Arnold and that is what they are basing the game on.

    Conan the Barbarian kicked ass, The Destroyer was horrible. If they were basing the games off of the movies they might as well save the Dvd blanks and not make the game.

    From the forums, previews and Q&A articles i have ready they are trying hard to make a not WoW, EQ etc. style MMO and I hope they succeed. From all the screen shots I see they put a lot of work into the character models and environments. Hope its good.

  • bloodyrooster

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:39 pm PT

    starwarsfanboy
    if this is good on 360, then i can't wait to see the ps3 MMO's

    Playstation 3 hahahahahaha, somebody brought up that bomb shelter again. Ok ok, if mmos do come out for the PS3, I'm sure it will be the more mature (extremely nerdy with no pvp) mmos like Vanguard and Everquest 2 (or some form of it). But due to the complexity of the PS3(bluray and stuff, no duel core design) I wouldn't expect to see anything that isn't made specifically for it, which means more PC mmos will probably cater to the 360 and I'm sure money bags will probably do everything they can to keep these titles exclusive. If Blizzard wants to make an attempt at the mmo market for home console systems, it most likely will stay exclusively for the xbox 360 which I'm sure Blizzard is more comfortably considering this time around.

  • MikeKAY

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:38 pm PT

    First, as was mentioned, this game is NOT, repeat NOT based on the Conan movies, but rather the stories by Robert E. Howard. The author behind the world the movies with Auhold were -barely- based on. This, incidentally, is one of the richest sources of background lore ever turned into a MMO. Ever. Second, this is NOT vaporware. Not even close. It's been the headliner (along with Crysis) for virtually every Microsoft event in the past year+ and it has won a **** of awards every single time it's been shown to the public. They also happen to have extremely solid financial backing which guarantees that they WILL launch with a solid, stable product (unlike the first time around, see AO launch).

    Third, this is going to be the mother of all niche games. Not the fabled WoW killer, but rather the inheritor to the legacy of off-mainstream games like UO. AO, Eve, and others. It's going to build slowly, but the market it garners will be so solid they will never be touched by competition for years to come.

    Fourth, delays are a good thing. Delays for MMOs are ALWAYS a good thing. Take Vanguard for instance. Bought, sold, rebought, delayed, bankrupt, and about to be launched with quality on par with late alpha, early beta. Another SoE disaster. The problem is that the people who leave because of a bad first impression NEVER come back. EQ2 and MxO still suffer because of this, regardless of how much progress has been made since launch. An MMO is nothing without its players. If you want to keep the players around, make a DAMN good first impression. No matter now long it takes.

  • Re_ensurer

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:29 pm PT

    I wasn't ever interested in this to begin with.

  • jknight5422

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:20 pm PT

    Digital-Devil: Lazy i disagree, i dont think many people are waiting to move out of WOW, i mean its add on just came out, so even more people into it now, all kinds of new quests, i think it will last as long, if not longer then Everquest 1

    I have to agree with Digital-Devil. WoW will have a billion dollars. Let's
    face it, that can drive more content than any other MMO combined,
    assuming they invest back into their game. But still, I'd like to have
    a MMO I can play from the 360..

  • calebhawkins

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:17 pm PT

    You people do realize that Age of Conan is based on the short stories of Robert Howard, which were published in the 20's and 30's, and not the movie which was only loosely based on those stories. It's an incredible setting (imagine a much more mature, bloody, realistic Forgotten Realms).

    As for why it was delayed, it's hard to say. MMO's take a lot of time to develop. WoW was delayed several times for release. LOTRO and Vanguard, which are coming out soon, saw their release dates shoot back several times. And while Vanguard may not be in such good shape, LOTRO definitely is.

  • epormada

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:17 pm PT

    They need to gring a nexgen MMO to the 360 and fast! I'm jones'en over here!

  • rgsniper1

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 1:06 pm PT

    Every time I hear about the Conan MMORPG I can't help but think of back when I played Anarchy Online (another Un-Funcom game). I distinctly remember one of the worst game launches in history. It was so bad that a lot of people who bought the game could never even get it to work and gave up. Un-Funcom hopefully you've hired some real programmers since then because AO was a disaster.

  • jdknight21

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 12:57 pm PT

    If you want your MMO to actually be played, don't even put it anywhere near the holiday season. Halo 3 will probably thin out the other game communities for a couple weeks to a couple months. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

  • ghsacidman

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 12:57 pm PT

    Quite frankley... I'd rather play War Craft anyway. Conan, of all the movies you could make an MMO after, they pick Conan! The setting and story of the films just doesn't make sense for a MMO to me. Mostly cause, if you can't be Conan... What good is a Conan game?

  • peeweeshift

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 12:49 pm PT

    it'll come to 360. graphics seem amazing but i wonder if it will be any fun. and i still want Warhammer online for 360!!!. WoW shouldn't be on 360 though.....unless they release a WoW360 keyboard!!!

  • goddessakasha

    Posted Jan 26, 2007 12:47 pm PT

    Can you say "Vaporware"?

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