415,000 Age of Conan Users Drive Funcom's $13 Million Q2

Norway-based Funcom's Age of Conan has sold, both digitally and at retail, over 800,000 copies, the company says, and now has 415,000 customers. The successful launch, Funcom says, helped propel it to second quarter revenues of $13 million, exceeding its own estimations by $1 million primarily thanks to higher box sales than Funcom expected, while losses totaled about $5.7 million, largely in AoC launch costs. Funcom expects revenues of $16 to $20 million in the third quarter, primarily from AoC subscription dollars, while the company says it'll aim to maximize the length of current user engagement while earning new subscribers. The company says it's been issuing an average of one patch per week, and will continue to "commit enhancement and corrections" to AoC based on player feedback, as part of its retention strategy, with a focus on the "high end" parts of the game, along with items and bug fixes. Funcom also says that the average playtime per player is lower than it expected, and suggests this might be due to the fact that the average player, at age 29, is older and likely has less time for long sessions, and that at this time during the year many are on summer vacation trips. The company plans to enter the Russian and Polish markets with new localizations, and says it's also negotiating in the Asian markets to launch there in the second half of 2009. Finally, the company is "in the early development phase" of the Xbox 360 version of Age of Conan.