Like Dungeons & Dragons Online before it, Lord of the Rings Online is showing amazing progress after the switch to free-to-play last month. The game’s Executive Producer, Kate Paiz, announced that not only has LotRO seen an improvement, but revenue has doubled in only a month. A million new accounts have also been created since the switch in business model. Paiz was involved in the transitions for both games, noting that while LotRO was not in any trouble, Turbine felt they could profit from the changeover.
Paiz stated that 20% of LotRO’s lapsed playerbase has returned with the change. This has led to a 300% increase in peak concurrency and a 400% increase in total active players. Over half of the players are using the in-game microtransaction store, with extra storage slots being among the most popular of items. Surprisingly, even paid subscriptions have increased.
Is free-to-play the revival of the mid-to-lower range MMO? Will Warhammer Online or Age of Conan follow suit in light of Turbine’s success?
1 Comments
October 11, 2010
I'd like to know their actual revenue figures before and after the change to free-to-play. If they were making a minimal amount before, doubling it doesn't prove much.