EverQuest's free-to-play switch causes 125% rise for in-game purchases

Sony Online Entertainment said this week that unique log-ins for its long-running MMORPG EverQuest have increased by 150 percent since the game went free-to-play in March. The company found great success when it switched sequel EverQuest II to the free-to-play model last December, with new player registrations increasing by around 300 percent. It then revealed earlier this year that the same model would be applied to the original EverQuest, 13 years after the game launched. Since going free-to-play last month, EverQuest has seen its concurrent user count increase by 40 percent, while player registrations have increased by 3.5 times. Purchases of in-game items have also seen a notable increase, up 125 percent compared to figures from before the game was free-to-play. SOE currently has at least two MMORPGs in development, including a project codenamed "EverQuest Next" and Planetside 2, the latter of which Smedley has already said will launch with a free-to-play approach inspired by Riot Games' popular RTS League of Legends.