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.
