The Secret World developer Funcom noted a dip in revenues in its end-of-year financial report, but its catalogue of MMOs are doing fine.
]]>As part of the celebrations for Funcom's Age of Conan 5 year anniversary, brutal boss monsters will be roaming and rampaging through the world of Hyboria for five days in a row.
]]>Age of Conan: Unchained has landed on Steam, and to get the free-to-play ball rolling for you, the Tortage Survival Pack is 35% off. It contains a blue snow mammoth mount, starter weapons, items which will teleport you to your origin city, a 20-slot inventory bag, a ring which boosts your DPS, fireworks to play with, and potions giving you 10 XP. The pack usually costs $9.99, but for the moment you'll only have to fork over $6.49. Hit up Steam for more information. Thanks, Massively.
]]>Age of Conan: Unchained's latest expansion, Secrets of Dragon's Spine, is out now. It adds a desert region with all new locations, three dungeons and monsters aimed at level 80 players, as well as new equipment and a new kind of mount. Trailer through the break.
]]>The Secret World developer Funcom has confirmed it is undergoing a major restructuring, but will not close any of its existing MMOs - quite the opposite, in fact.
]]>Funcom has announced Secrets of Dragon’s Spine, a new series of content updates for its free to play MMORPG, Age of Conan: Unchained.
]]>Funcom has launched House of Crom, the free update to Age of Conan: Unchained available to both Premium free-to-play subscribers. In addition to being able to roam the halls of the Atlantean House of Crom and its "two huge in-game dungeons," one social and one instanced, ans are the "largest indoor dungeons yet created for the game." You can check out screenshots for the update below.
]]>The latest patch for Age of Conan: Unchained is live, with Funcom making a number of important changes. As well as the usual fixes, tweaks and balancing to gameplay mechanics, the developer has done some major fiddling with the game's engine, Dreamworld. Changes to PhysX, damage and buff calculations among other optimisations are intended to improve server and client performance, resulting in a smoother online experience.
]]>Funcom has announced that since going free-to-play in July, Age of Conan: Unchained has been tried out by 600,000 players. In celebration, everyone who logs in before Monday, November 21, will be able to claim The King's Reward pack from the item store on one character on their account. The reward pack, which can be found in the special offer tab in the store, contains a selection of potions for the price of free. The pack is limited to one per account.
]]>Funcom's confirmed that 300,000 players have joined Age of Conan: Unchained in the MMO's first month of free-to-play activity.
]]>Surprise, surprise! Beleaguered MMORPG Age of Conan has seen an increase in subscriptions since switching to a free-to-play model.
]]>Team Fortress 2 and World of Warcraft (sorta) aren't the only ones to go F2P recently.
]]>Funcom has said there are currently "no plans" to bring Age of Conan to consoles, but the firm is still working on console technology as well as its newly announced AoC free-to-play initiative on PC.
]]>Craig "Silirrion" Morrison hinted last month that there was something interesting in the works for Age of Conan. Now, forums for the game are a-buzz with the idea that two new lands may be in development, filled with a multitude of new zones.
]]>Funcom has detailed three new solo instances for Age of Conan.
]]>If you were still holding out for a 360 version of Funcom MMO Age Of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, now may be the time to hang up your axe: Funcom's Erling Ellingson has told VG247 "there are no plans on releasing an Xbox 360 version any time soon".
]]>Funcom has announced that a retail release containing both Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures and the expansion Rise of the Godslayer is to be published by Deep Silver.
]]>Funcom has revealed that Age Of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is still in development for Xbox 360.
]]>Some new screens and a video showing the wolf mount for Age of Conan's Rise of the Godslayer expansion were released by Funcom this week.
Dunno if we would ever want to ride a wolf that harbored a maw like that one - but to each his own.
]]>Funcom has released another video for its Rise of the Godslayer expansion to Age of Conan.
The expansion is expected to "deliver a wealth of new content and features" set in the eastern empire of Khitai.
Still, no release date, but it's coming. Watch the video below the break courtesy of FileFront, showing off the northern grasslands.
]]>This was a rather large week in MMOs as far as news went, and not all of it was Halloween related.
Past the break you will hear all about how Ultima Online is still going strong, get familiarized with the new patch for Aion, read up on Cryptic's Blood Moon event via a dev chat, PvP henchmen and Guild Wars, Alganon's delay, China's ban on males playing females in games, and many other bits of stuff that didn't hit the front page during the week.
Also, we hope everyone who plays MMOs enjoyed the Halloween and Fall festivities that their particular favorites hosted. Loads had celebrations, more than likely every single one of 'em. If we forgot to mention your particular game, head on over to the list through the link ther and add it in the comments section so that we may give it its proper shout-out.
]]>This TenTonHammer post is rumouring that Funcom's dropped 70 percent of its American staff, totalling some 60 jobs.
Apparently the cuts were made on Wednesday, with the bulk of the redundancies coming from customer service and QA.
]]>Funcom co-founder Gaute Godage has quit Funcom after becoming "dissatisfied" with Age of Conan, the company's announced.
“I have done my very best making this fabulous game, but I have concluded there are elements which I am dissatisfied with," said the exec.
"I have decided to act on this, and as a result I have chosen to leave Funcom."
Godage is to be replaced by Anarchy Online game director Craig Morrison, who previously worked at Funcom as a community manager.
"It is time to get new, fresh eyes on Age of Conan, and I wholeheartedly support the appointment of Craig," added Godage.
"I have had a fantastic time these last 16 years, and I am very proud of the many things Funcom has achieved. Funcom and Conan will always be a big part of me, but as I now look to new ventures outside the gaming industry I am certain Age of Conan’s future is in the best of hands.”
Press release after the link.
]]>Funcom's put out episode four of Hyborian Insider, it's movie update on Age of Conan, showing upcoming DX10 graphical features in the MMO as well as new high level content.
Dynamic tree shadowing, improved parallax mapping, rippling grass, specular reflections, underwater God rays and tons more are shown off in the movie, which you can see after the break. The DX10 stuff starts at about 3:10.
No dates on when this stuff's going to be added to the game, but it's well worth a look. So do. Be mindful of a few spoilers in there, though.
]]>Valve's announced that Funcom MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is now available on Steam.
]]>Funcom's Erling Ellingsen revealed at Games Convention today that the company's Age of Conan MMO will tie in with the new Conan film being produced by Lionsgate, writes Eurogamer.
]]>Eurogamer has seen an as of yet unreleased teaser image pertaining to be the first expansion pack for its MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.
]]>Massively is reporting that the reason for the Age of Conan server downtime this morning was because Funcom's MMO was being patched.
]]>Missed this yesterday. Buried in Funcom's financials was confirmation that Age of Conan currently has 415,000 customers, classed as those either paying a subscription or playing on the first month's free time that comes with the box.
]]>Funcom's showing of upcoming DX10 features of Age of Conan at Games Convention, the company announced today, as well as offering up "thousands of exclusive giveaways, including free trial accounts and limited edition game DVDs" at the German show next week.
Never-before-seen locations, content and features from the MMO are going to be on show in Leipzig, so barbarian fans have every reason to be cheerful.
Press release after the link.
]]>Both Funcom and Blizzard have announced Russian release dates for their spearhead MMOs today, with Age of Conan hitting the country in "late 2008" and WoW getting all vodkarish in August.
]]>Kotaku's spoken to Erling Ellingsen, product manager for Age of Conan, who answered in "about a month" when asked when the game would be ready for review.
]]>As you can see here, Funcom's Age of Conan is now available for direct download. Good for those with an aversion to discs, people with shop phobias and the legless, the file weighs in at 15Gb.
]]>Funcom put out a press release today saying Age of Conan "continues to hold the #1 spot in most markets" and is now the "undisputed #2 subscription MMO in the western world".
“That Age of Conan remains #1 in retail stores several weeks after release is of incredible importance to us, and proves that the game has a large potential beyond the early adopters,” said Funcom marketing head Morten Larssen.
“With more than 700.000 accounts created so far we have a fantastic platform to build from, and we will continue our marketing spend to further drive numbers in the months to come. It also means that Funcom can dedicate significant development resources on evolving the game even further, naturally giving us a great hope for the future of Age of Conan.”
Hardcore. Press release after the link.
]]>According to NPD, Age of Conan's still the top selling PC game in the US. Last week's data here. Figures are for the week ending June 7.
]]>As promised, Funcom has announced a heap of new features and additions to Age of Conan, designed to keep those million buyers playing beyond the free month they got with the game.
Major updates include Guild Alliance Warfare and a PvP addition called To the Death, which adds ten PvP levels with additional ranks will be introduced, as well as specific gear and weapons for character-on-character combat.
All this is happening in the "months to come". Press release after the link.
]]>Shock Horror. The US PC charts for the week ending May 31 are headed by Funcom's Age of Conan. As you can see below.
]]>Funcom announced this morning that more than 1 million copies of MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures have shipped since the game released at the end of May.
“Sales data shows that Age of Conan is the biggest MMO launch since World of Warcraft,” says Funcom Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Morten Larssen. “The numbers are very promising, and we are very proud to be one of the fastest selling PC games ever in a launch month and the biggest simultaneous Europe/US MMO launch in history.”
Press release after the link.
]]>Eidos MMO Age Of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has gone top of the US PC chart in its launch week, NPD data's shown, for the seven days ending May 24. List below. Thanks, MCV.
]]>What with Age of Conan going a bit bonkers since it launched at the end of May, Funcom's decided to take on a bunch of new community managers and customer services reps, three in Europe, and four in the US.
]]>Funcom's announced that more than 400,000 players have now entered Age of Conan, making the game one of the fastest-selling ever for PC.
“The initial sales and reviews are very encouraging, and it’s great to see that so many are enjoying Age of Conan,” said Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas.
“This is just the beginning, and we already look forward to massive updates and cool new features. We believe our focus on making Conan unique and groundbreaking is a key reason for the initial success. This is a focus we will keep and reinforce, and players can expect continued quality and innovation as we enter a new era for the game.”
The MMO sold out before launch, so assuming the figures keep growing the future's looking very bright. Next stop 10 million.
Press release after the link.
]]>Eidos announced today that 110,000 copies of the Age of Conan collector's edition has sold out at pre-order, as have all shipped units to the tune of 700,000 discs.
“Everyone in Funcom is delighted and humbled with the historical pre-order numbers for Age of Conan. If the information we have is correct, they represent the highest pre-order number for any global launch of an original PC game, ever, including the original World of Warcraft launch,” said Funcom sales boss Morten Larssen.
Game's out on May 23 in Europe. Press release after the link.
]]>There is a message on the Funcom forums saying that Early Access keys to the Age of Conan beta are now sold out and that access is closed.
]]>Eidos just confirmed that the Age of Conan beta has hit a million sign-ups.
“Funcom has not been able to find any higher beta numbers for MMOs in the western world,” said Morten Larssen, Funcom sales boss. “We believe it represents the largest ever beta sign-up figure in the history of the genre.”
Tiny bit of bad news in there: the game's now down as a May 23 release in Europe, a three day trip from the previously confirmed May 20 date.
Can't have it all. Press release after the link.
]]>Goonheim LLC has launched a feat calculator website that "is a tool for player to explore the various options available to them for their character's builds, without having to worry about in-game costs to retrain their feats."
]]>It's on Videogamer.com. The video shows fighting on horses, rhinos and elephants. Cool. The Eidos MMO is looking like you'll probably buy it even if you're remotely interested, and launches on May 20.
]]>There's a movie on CVG of Age of Conan's PvP aspects, and it's all looking very good, if this sort of thing floats your boat. Funcom's Erling Ellingsen takes us through the various modes in the game, including Capture the Skull and Team Annihilation. There's also a quick snip of Siege Warfare at the end, which looks mental. Have a gander.
]]>Four years, untold gallons of baby oil and loads of other barbarian-based cliches later, Funcom's completed MMO Age of Conan and sent it off to master.
]]>According to this Funcom press release, the Age of Conan open beta is to begin on May 1, in conjunction with IGN. FilePlanet's going to host the beta exclusively, and 50,000 players will be able to get in the action on a first come, first served basis.
]]>According to Kotaku, those that pre-order Age of Conan will get to start playing three days before the poor lowly fool that go into a "shop" and buy the game on May 20. Pre-ordering also grants rights to special items in the MMO past level 40, such as "the War Mammoth and Killer Rhino mounts". Can't say fairer than that. You may as well do it, you know, just in case.
]]>Funcom's released a new Age of Conan movie on the official site. This is a "retail trailer", apparently, and features "mounts, magic, combat" and some other stuff. Fancy. The MMO releases globally on May 20.
]]>Speaking to videogaming247, Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures product manager Erling Ellingsen has admitted that Activision boss Bobby Kotick's assertion that it would need $1 billion to successfully compete with World of Warcraft may not be far from the truth.
"It's hard to imagine a company being able to compete with World of Warcraft any time soon, and yes, it will definitely take a lot of resources to make that happen," he said when asked if he though Kotick was on the money.
Ellingsen added that he didn't see Funcom's upcoming MMO as a WoW competitor and that is was seeking a different audience.
"We have always been very up front about the fact that we are not trying to compete with World of Warcraft, a game that really is a social phenomenon along the lines of Facebook and MySpace," he said. "We are deliberately trying to do something different. Yes, you will find many similarities as they are both massive online games, but the two games are so fundamentally different that I think they will live very well side by side."
Age of Conan's releasing worldwide on May 20. You can find all of Erling's answers to our questions after the link.
]]>Here. We tried to embed it, but Filefront started having a fanny and we're boggle-eyed with typing. No idea how Funcom's MMO's going to play, but it certainly looks the part. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures releases for PC on May 20 and Xbox 360 at some point in the future-uture-uture.
]]>According to this, Funcom is allowing those who didn't make it onto the Age of Conan beta another shot at getting involved. Visit this thread for details. Basically, you have to submit a prayer to one of the game's deities and the funniest/most desperate get in.
]]>German fantasy gore fans have been thrown a bone today, as developer Funcom has confirmed that they'll be able to play MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures on any of the European servers.
]]>According to Eidos (press release after the link), over 500,000 people have signed up to either the Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures ‘Clan of Conan’ fan club or the ongoing beta.
“The massive attention Age of Conan is generating throughout the international gaming community is simply amazing,” said Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. “The game seems to be already striking a chord with gamers across the world and we are thrilled and motivated by all the positive feedback we have been getting from both the press and the community.”
The MMO releases worldwide on May 20.
]]>Thank God for that. Funcom's corrected an original post on its official forum saying that the US version of Eidos MMO Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures will allow players to see breasts with nipples. Humanity is saved. The previous post said nipples were going to be hidden in the US version of the game. Funcom community manager Shannon Drake set the record straight below.
]]>Eidos has released a new movie from upcoming Funcom MMO Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures, showing the game's borderlands region. It's all looking just swell, and probably worth the wait: the game's been delayed on numerous occasions. A release date of May 20 is now set in stone, as you'll see at the end of the trailer, and a simultaneous launch in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and the US is planned.
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