Age of Conan Re-Evaluation Campaign Launch

Funcom sent us over a press release this morning announcing the launch of a “re-evaluation campaign” for Age of Conan, complete with a free, two-week reactivation of former player accounts.

‘˜Age of Conan’ celebrates one year of massive improvements, former players invited to come back and play for FREE!

Players can log back in for free and experience a new and improved Conan
A year of massive improvements have made ‘˜Age of Conan’ better than ever
New website live that explains how the game has improved since launch

Durham, USA July 8th, 2009 Funcom is proud to announce the launch of the first re-evaluation campaign for its best-selling MMO ‘˜Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’. Anyone with a previously active account can now reactivate and play for two weeks completely free of charge and with no strings attached. With the slew of massive updates and improvements done to the game since launch, Funcom is eager to let players experience what the press have already dubbed (the second coming of Conan).

The list of additions, changes and improvements are many, and a new website that aims to inform press and gamers everywhere about how ‘˜Age of Conan’ has improved since launch is now live.

The new re-evaluation website can be found here.

(For anyone with an inactive account who ever thought about giving it another try, this is your chance,) says Morten Larssen, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Funcom. (After the hugely successful launch last year we immediately started working on updates that would make the game better and provide more content for players, and that is what we have been doing this past year. With the most recent update just out the door, this is the time to ask players to come back and see the results!)

The re-evaluation offer is valid from July 8th to July 22nd and is available to anyone with a closed account in good standing. Reactivating at any time within this period will open for two weeks of free play regardless of when you choose to act within that time period. There are no costs associated with this offer or any subscription obligations. It is also important to note that the free trial campaign will temporarily be closed to ensure the best play environment for all returning players.

Since launching last year ‘˜Age of Conan’ has been lovingly improved by a dedicated development team who has launched several major updates to the game. These updates have all added a wealth of new content such as the massive outdoor area of the giants known as Ymir’s Pass, the huge dungeon Xibaluku, and the vast new cityscape of Tarantia Commons among others. All of these areas have added countless hours of adventure through new quests, enemies, and rewards. New features have also been implemented such as an extensive player vs. player notoriety system that allows players to become murderers and hunt each other down for exclusive rewards, improved DirectX 10 graphics technology that allows for some spectacular visuals, and a massive revitalization of the core role-playing system.

(It has been quite a journey for the entire team getting to where we are today,) says Game Director on ‘˜Age of Conan’ Craig Morrison. (I think that players have always seen the great potential in ‘˜Age of Conan’ and we have put a lot of effort into realizing that potential. The game has improved tremendously since launch and we look forward to having players come back and seeing the changes for themselves!)

Funcom is also running a major give-away in cooperation with Eurogamer.net and MMORPG.com this week. Each site are giving away one thousand full copies of ‘˜Age of Conan’ each including 30 days of free playtime so head on over if you want to secure a free passage into the savage world of Conan!

Launching in May last year ‘˜Age of Conan’ quickly became a smash hit in retail, shipping over 1.2 million copies around the world. In North America, the most prominent online gaming market in the west, ‘˜Age of Conan’ became the third best-selling PC title of the year only beaten by ‘˜Spore’ and ‘˜World of Warcraft’. In the weeks after launch ‘˜Age of Conan’ simultaneously topped the charts in 17 countries, and the game received critical acclaim from gaming press across the globe. ‘˜Age of Conan’ is now available in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Polish localized versions, and is being prepared for launch in Korea as well.

For more information and how to purchase ‘˜Age of Conan’ please visit www.ageofconan.com

ABOUT FUNCOM – Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of online games for PC, consoles and mobile platforms. Funcom has provided outstanding entertainment since 1993 and continues to expand its track-record of more than twenty released games. Recent titles include ‘The Longest Journey’, ‘Anarchy Online’ and ‘Dreamfall: The Longest Journey’. For corporate information please visit www.funcom.com. For information about Funcom games visit http://www.anarchy-online.com www.dreamfall.com, www.darkdaysarecoming.com or www.ageofconan.com. Funcom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FUNCOM.

ABOUT CONAN PROPERTIES INTERNATIONAL – Conan Properties International LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paradox Entertainment Inc., controls rights to Conan, many associated characters and the Hyborian world, as created by Robert E. Howard and various rights expanded upon by many acclaimed authors and artists. Many consider Conan the world’s best-known fantasy character. For more information about Conan Properties International LLC, visit www.conan.com. For information about Paradox Entertainment Inc., visit www.paradox-entertainment.com.