Age of Conan Desperate for Subscribers

Following a supposedly successful launch, Funcom's Age of Conan has begun to crumble as the opening-month hype wears off and the criticisms increase.  Today's extremely demanding MMO players are accustomed to a very high standard of gameplay and polish that seems just out of reach for Funcom's new title, and the rapidly declining user base is evidence that this experiment has failed.

The AoC Launch Numbers

While the videogame media tossed around some big numbers at the AoC launch, including a major figure of 700,000 copies, the actual sales numbers were unknown, as Funcom could not/would not report any details beyond what they had shipped to retailers.   Recent inside information, however, has given us more details about what happened to these 700,000 copies of the game.



That's right, we have a rather unhappy picture as we near the "one month" point for Age of Conan.

* ~40% are still sitting on retailer shelves
* ~30% were bought and returned due to insufficient system reqs
* ~20% were bought and installed but canceled without subscribing
* ~10% were bought and set up a subscription to continue playing

Of the much-hyped 700,000 number, this leaves us with about 70,000 Active Players in the world of Hyboria. 

Missing The Mark By 86%

Is 70,000 players enough of a "critical mass" to sustain community growth and allow the game to maintain a playerbase as time goes on?  Funcom initially estimated that they would need about 500,000 monthly subscriptions for a "break even" point to sustain the game.  The server maintenance costs and massive initial development time on a resource-heavy game like Age of Conan are such that this figure will need to be reached within six months of launch if there is any hope for the game to live on.    One month after release, they have achieved 14% of their goal, and the player base is trending downward.  Not good news for Conan fans.

What Went Wrong?

In assessing the damages, Funcom officials are hesitant to speculate on problems with the game in fear of scaring off even more of their dwindling playerbase, but I will go out on a limb here and make some guesses for the benefit of my readers.

1. Nobody Can Run The Game

This must be a big factor, given that half of the copies that actually sold came right back to the retail store because users could not run the game.  System requirements proved too high to reach beyond the tight-knit group of "hardcore" gamers who spend thousands per year on PC gaming.

2. The World Has No Character

Age of Conan's designers attempted to deliver us a dark, gritty, realism-themed world that ended up feeling derivative, lifeless, and boring.  The legions of gamers who enjoy MMO as an escape into an alternate world found Hyboria devoid of magical excitement, fun, and wonder.

3. World of Warcraft Raised The Bar Too High

After over three years of playing a polished, highly stable product from Blizzard, the masses of new and old MMO fans coming from World of Warcraft to "try something new" were disgusted with the instability of the game client, the poor response of the customer service teams, and the general poor pacing and lack of content offered in Age of Conan.  This level of service may have been OK five years ago, but gamers won't accept it now after they've been spoiled by WoW.

4. Funcom Broke Promises That Never Should Have Been Made

World PvP, large scale outdoor battles, and Guild warfare were all hyped in Age of Conan, but none of it was delivered.  When players took too much control over the world, developers swiftly removed access and implemented lockdown controls to convert the game into a fairy-tale amusement park.

Yet another developer failed to realize that an open-ended large-scale PvP with total freedom is not only technically impossible, but is also not enjoyable for most players.  Games need structure and direction to provide entertainment, even though a few hardcore gamers think they will have more fun without it.  Funcom attempted to bait the hardcore gamers by promising that which they could not deliver, and the hardcore gamers called their bluff.

5. The Game Is Bad

Combat system is bad, world is bad, interface is bad, everything is bad.  This game was built around graphics and an opportunistic release in a lull period for World of Warcraft.  Sales were made and then lost as gamers realized it truly was just a bunch of hype.

Can It Be Fixed?

At this point, Age of Conan appears to be doomed.  Only a tiny fraction of people who tried the game are interested in playing, and Funcom is making changes that alienate more active subscribers each day.   It won't be long before we see more free playtime promotions, refer-a-friend, and deep discounts at the retail level as Age of Conan breathes its dying breath.

The only money to be made at this point is to sell the game box based on the graphics and marketing materials.  With a converted subscription rate of less than 10%, Funcom has to be satisfied with this failed experiment and move on to their next project.

People Would Rather Wait For More WoW

The sad truth that we realize, after this past month, is that speculating and reading about upcoming changes for WoW: WotLK is actually more fun and interesting than playing Age of Conan.

Shame on Funcom, or congrats to Blizzard?  Who knows.  Either way, it's time to say an official "Goodbye" to Age of Conan.