The free-to-play relaunch of Dungeons and Dragons Online by developer Turbine in the US is proving quite the boon for the community. No sub fees have pushed subs up 40 percent.
There is a ”very high percentage” of newcomers that use the in-game store, where the MMO now gets its revenue. A ”good chunk” of users are spending more now than they did before.
”We’re hitting and exceeding our internal targets, so far we’re very happy,” said executive producer Fernando Paiz to Ars Technica. Micro-transaction are its lifeblood now.
”All aspects of our business are growing. Hundreds of thousands of new players in the world are playing for free, with a very high percentage using the store.” Their internal expectations for growth has been doubled, as subscriptions have soared 40 percent since the change.
Instead of paying a fixed rate each month, players can now play for free and decide themselves if they want additional content by paying small in-game shop prices. Turbine do offer though an optional monthly subscription still, for those who want all the stuff.
”We have a good chunk of the population that is spending more than $15 a month,” noted Paiz, which was the monthly sub rate for Dungeons and Dragons Online. ”The traditional subscription model can only make X dollars off a player. This kind of removes that cap.”
If you’re a US gamer then why not try out the new free-to-play DDO? European users unfortunately are denied this new free goodness from Turbine.
Source: Eurogamer
