There have been many MMOGs that come and go and initially appear to be contenders out to take a slice of the 65% of the market share that World of Warcraft has in online games arena. Blizzard are making around $500m per year in clear profit from their subscription model and a similar amount in virtual goods or transactions thereof sales. Age of Conan which has been out two weeks or so is touted as the next contender probably due to it being the fastest selling MMOG of all time - 400 000 subscriptions in a few days and over 2.2 million visitors to the Age of Conan website in 10 days.

The quality of the graphics for an MMOG is very good and one reason for its success may indeed be that the character rendering (remember this is real time social gaming) is starting to approach PC or Console ’solo’ games - well it seems to be 3/4 years behind but catching fast. The story environment itself is very NWN crossed with a traditional medieval sim but with WoW type gameplay and by all accounts very graphic and violent reconstructions of barbaric scenarios - I hope that is not the main reason we are seeing this flood to try the game. More from the PR machine after the video.

From gamesindustry biz

Funcom is proud to announce that Age of Conan is one of the fastest selling PC games of all time. More than 400.000 gamers have entered Hyboria over the last few days, with almost half coming from the North American market. This amazing figure for a PC game shows that the positive pre-order trend has transferred into actual sales, and people from all over the world are now flocking to the most savage, sexy and brutal MMO ever created.

Over the weekend an astounding amount of concurrent gamers were logged on to the game, making Age of Conan one of the busiest MMOs in the western hemisphere. With stock flying out of several retail chains, Funcom expects the number to increase in the days to come. In addition to the many gamers logging in, there was also substantial traffic to the Age of Conan websites, with more than 2,2 million unique visitors during the last ten days.

As a result of the great launch, players and press have been raving about the unique qualities of the game, and the first 20 reviews give Age of Conan an average score above 90%. The first US reviews are also live, with Gamezone.com giving the game an Editor’s Choice Award, a 9.4 of 10 score, while heralding Age of Conan as a “Benchmark MMO”. Sci-Fi.com was also an early mover and gave the game a straight A, stating that “If Robert E. Howard had been a game designer.., this is the Conan he would have invented.”

“The initial sales and reviews are very encouraging, and it’s great to see that so many are enjoying Age of Conan,” said Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. “This is just the beginning, and we already look forward to massive updates and cool new features. We believe our focus on making Conan unique and groundbreaking is a key reason for the initial success. This is a focus we will keep and reinforce, and players can expect continued quality and innovation as we enter a new era for the game.”