Everquest 2 Finds New Life as Free-to-Play MMO
Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley says Everquest 2 is doing ever so well for itself as a free-to-play game.
Did you know that Everquest 2 went free-to-play in December 2011? I had no idea. Everquest 2 Producer Dave Georgeson made a pretty lengthy announcement [http://stationblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/everquest-ii-producers-letter/#more-3307] about the changeover back in November but I guess I wasn't paying attention. In any event, it happened, the game is now available as a fairly standard free-to-play MMO and according to Smedley, things are going very well.
"We are seeing some amazing growth in EQ2. 40% increase in daily logins since going f2p. 300% increase in new players," Smedley tweeted [https://twitter.com/#!/j_smedley/status/156719353176391682] earlier today.
"And 200% increase in Item sales. Plus we have added a lot of new subs," he added [https://twitter.com/#!/j_smedley/status/156719770929074176]. "All during the time that some really good competition hit the market."
It's not terribly surprising to see an MMO get a big boost out of a free-to-play transition - I can't think of any big MMO that didn't experience an upsurge after making the switch - and the real question is how it will hold up in the long run. Smedley indicated in September 2011 that he thinks the future is free-to-play [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113189-The-Old-Republic-Will-Be-the-Last-Subscription-MMO], saying that BioWare's The Old Republic - the "really good competition" he referred to on Twitter - will be the last major MMO to make use of the monthly subscription-based payment model.
A third Everquest MMO was Eurogamer [http://eq2wire.com/2010/08/07/gallery-eqnext-screen-shots-and-concept-art-day-2/] pointed out, Sony Online Entertainment had a rough go of things in 2011, which could delay the game's development.
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Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley says Everquest 2 is doing ever so well for itself as a free-to-play game.
Did you know that Everquest 2 went free-to-play in December 2011? I had no idea. Everquest 2 Producer Dave Georgeson made a pretty lengthy announcement [http://stationblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/everquest-ii-producers-letter/#more-3307] about the changeover back in November but I guess I wasn't paying attention. In any event, it happened, the game is now available as a fairly standard free-to-play MMO and according to Smedley, things are going very well.
"We are seeing some amazing growth in EQ2. 40% increase in daily logins since going f2p. 300% increase in new players," Smedley tweeted [https://twitter.com/#!/j_smedley/status/156719353176391682] earlier today.
"And 200% increase in Item sales. Plus we have added a lot of new subs," he added [https://twitter.com/#!/j_smedley/status/156719770929074176]. "All during the time that some really good competition hit the market."
It's not terribly surprising to see an MMO get a big boost out of a free-to-play transition - I can't think of any big MMO that didn't experience an upsurge after making the switch - and the real question is how it will hold up in the long run. Smedley indicated in September 2011 that he thinks the future is free-to-play [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113189-The-Old-Republic-Will-Be-the-Last-Subscription-MMO], saying that BioWare's The Old Republic - the "really good competition" he referred to on Twitter - will be the last major MMO to make use of the monthly subscription-based payment model.
A third Everquest MMO was Eurogamer [http://eq2wire.com/2010/08/07/gallery-eqnext-screen-shots-and-concept-art-day-2/] pointed out, Sony Online Entertainment had a rough go of things in 2011, which could delay the game's development.
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