Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures
Over 1 million testers recruited for what Funcom reckons is the biggest ever MMO beta.
Durham, USA – May 13, 2008 – Funcom and Eidos are proud to confirm some of the impressive figures powering the Age of Conan launch, and the two companies are happy to reveal that the Age of Conan Beta has passed 1 million sign-ups! As one of the most anticipated MMO’s ever, the 1 million mark confirms the amazing interest in the game.
“Funcom has not been able to find any higher beta numbers for MMOs in the western world,” said Morten Larssen, VP of Funcom Sales and Marketing. “We believe it represents the largest ever beta sign-up figure in the history of the genre.”
In addition to the incredible beta numbers, Funcom confirms that almost 800.000 gamers have signed up for the Clan of Conan newsletter. The hundreds of thousands following the development of the game have moreover resulted in a rapidly growing forum community. Last week Funcom registered over 115.000 posts on the official forums, across four languages. This comes in addition to Age of Conan discussions on external forums and in other languages.
In 2008, Funcom has also seen a tremendous growth in the amount of people who visit the official Age of Conan websites. Since January 2008, Funcom has registered more than 5 million unique visitors, from more than 200 countries. Last week alone over 725.000 unique visitors came to the Age of Conan sites.
The coverage and interest on external gaming sites has skyrocketed as a result of the growing anticipation. Age of Conan has topped numerous charts as the most read about, most popular and most anticipated PC game in development. As an example, GameSpot.com has Age of Conan as the #1 most read about upcoming game over the last month, on any format. The game has seen a similar interest on genre specific sites, including being the #1 most popular MMO over the last 12 months on MMORPG.com. Print gaming publications have also covered the game widely, and the game now has over 20 covers, including the coveted cover of PC Gamer US.
“How all of our strong figures convert into later sales and subscription figures is still unknown,” continued Larssen. “But our pre-order numbers in some important retail chains track as among the highest for any MMO launched.”
Age of Conan launches 20th of May in North America / Oceania and 23rd of May in Europe.
To celebrate the amazing community figures surrounding Age of Conan Funcom and Eidos today unveils a brand new trailer. Aptly called the Femme Fatale trailer, the new video can be downloaded in HD quality from the media section at http://community.ageofconan.com. For more information or to pre-order Age of Conan – either in English, German, French or Spanish – please visit the official websites.
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About Funcom - Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of online games for PC, consoles and mobile platforms. Funcom has provided outstanding entertainment since 1993 and continues to expand its track-record of more than twenty released games. Recent titles include 'The Longest Journey', 'Anarchy Online' and 'Dreamfall: The Longest Journey'. For corporate information please visit www.funcom.com. For information about Funcom games visit www.anarchy-online.com, www.dreamfall.com, www.darkdaysarecoming.com or www.ageofconan.com. Funcom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FUNCOM.
About Eidos Interactive Ltd - Eidos Interactive Ltd is part of SCi Entertainment Group Plc (SEG) creators of some of the world's leading videogame properties. Eidos consists of offices across Europe and the US and several development studios including Crystal Dynamics, IO Interactive, Beautiful Game Studios and Eidos Montreal. The Group has a valuable combined portfolio of intellectual property including: Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex, Championship Manager and Just Cause.
About Conan Properties International LLC - Conan Properties International LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paradox Entertainment Inc., controls rights to Conan, many associated characters and the Hyborian world, as created by Robert E. Howard and various rights expanded upon by many acclaimed authors and artists. Many consider Conan the world's best-known fantasy character. For more information about Conan Properties International LLC, visit www.conan.com. For information about Paradox Entertainment Inc., visit www.paradox-entertainment.com