Age of Conan Delayed

[vurt]

FUNCOM - FUNCOM AND SCI/EIDOS SIGN CO-PUBLISHING AGREEMENT
http://www.newsweb.no/index.asp?melding_ID=132427
Funcom and SCi/Eidos sign co-publishing agreement for 'Age
of Conan`

- The highly anticipated MMO has March to May as new launch
window -

Oslo, Norway - July 24, 2006 - Funcom announces the signing
of a co-publishing agreement with SCi/Eidos for 'Age of
Conan`, the highly anticipated Massively Multiplayer Online
Game (MMO). Under the terms of the agreement, SCi/Eidos is
to publish the boxed product of 'Age of Conan` while Funcom
retains digital distribution rights. The agreement gives
SCi/Eidos distribution rights for North America, Europe,
South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Funcom will
operate servers and provide customer service for the game
and collect and retain subscription revenues.

The two parties have agreed to set the new launch window
between March and May 2007. The contract contains specific
sales targets, which, if met, will make 'Age of Conan` a
highly successful game. The PC version of 'Age of Conan` is
currently in the Beta phase of development and Funcom and
SCi/Eidos are pleased with the status of the game. Funcom
and SCi/Eidos will also co-operate to bring the game to the
console market.

`We are very excited to work with SCi/Eidos on the
publishing of Age of Conan,` said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of
Funcom. `SCi/Eidos has proven their strength in PR,
marketing and distribution with series like Hitman and Tomb
Raider, and we couldn`t be more pleased with our co-
publishing partner. Our two companies share a strong
commitment and ambition for the game, and we feel certain
the partnership will increase the likelihood of success and
the total sales potential for the game.`

`We have strong faith in the sales potential for 'Age of
Conan`, and by combining the knowledge and reach of both
SCi/Eidos and Funcom we believe the game will become a
great success,` said Ian Livingstone, Product Acquisition
Director of Eidos. `The many E3 awards, the extensive
worldwide press coverage, the vibrant online player
community, the strong global brand and Funcom`s extensive
MMO experience are all factors which bode well for the
future of 'Age of Conan`, and we will do our best to
contribute to making it into a successful MMO franchise in
the years to come.`

'Age of Conan` is a Showcase title for Windows Vista, and
the game recently won the `Best MMO of E3` awards from
IGN, GameSpot, GameSpy and Yahoo Games. More information,
screenshots, forums, newsletter sign-up and a welcoming
community portal can be found on the official website
www.ageofconan.com.

I sure hope something decent comes out in the meantime.

[Siddar]

I expect to see allot of these delays anounced soon. Its near sucide to launch a new mmog into same time period as new WoW exspansion. Much better idea to extend your games beta six months and release a more polished game next year.

I expect vanguard to take same path and SoE probaly isnt really happy about releaseing serpents spine into same time period as burning crusade ether but not much they can do about it. Though I could see them maybe delaying that until january though its unlikely.

[Vorph]

Hopefully optimizing the game fully for Vista/DX10 was a major part of the reason for the delay.

[goatface]

after the buzz from E3, they had been pretty quiet is last few months
beta was i thought already supposed to been going

[FuckYou]

is anyone really waiting for this?

[Tuco]

I'm kind of excited about this underdog game, but I doubt it'll really be able to tear me away from WoW with how well things are going.

[Akileese]

fuck wow. I want Warhammer, Age of Conan, or both. Maybe I just played WoW for entirely too long (about 2 years including beta), but I just grew tired of it. I think it's wise to wait to after the expansion obviously. See if Blizzard screws shit up (they've done it before). If the expansion isn't this holy savior they make it to be it, and I doubt it will, people will look to jump to the next big thing.

[Itzena]

Originally Posted by FuckYou

is anyone really waiting for this?

MMOG players not looking forward to TBC had the choice, at the end of this year, of EQ's latest expansion (meh), EQ2's latest expansion (might be ok), Vanguard (heh), LOTRO (Mythic = fail) or this (AO was actually a half-decent game, once they managed to get past the launch).

Think of it as a process of elimination.

[Slick Willey]

The PC version of 'Age of Conan` is
currently in the Beta phase of development and Funcom and
SCi/Eidos are pleased with the status of the game. Funcom
and SCi/Eidos will also co-operate to bring the game to the
console market.

That was news to me -- I didn't know they had plans to bring it to the 360/PS3.

[turner]

I am excited that they are taking more time with the game. Probably more time to organize a proper launch since Funcom's last one went so well.

[Tingteng]

Originally Posted by FuckYou

is anyone really waiting for this?

I am, bigtime.....

[Digo]

I'll play it after raids for a month or so, just because I want to gallop around on horseback chopping people's heads off.

[Olio]

A console port doesn't bode well.

[Akileese]

Originally Posted by Itzena

MMOG players not looking forward to TBC had the choice, at the end of this year, of EQ's latest expansion (meh), EQ2's latest expansion (might be ok), Vanguard (heh), LOTRO (Mythic = fail) or this (AO was actually a half-decent game, once they managed to get past the launch).

Think of it as a process of elimination.

I won't lie, regardless of the activity of my wow account, I will buy TBC (I had pre-ordered it months ago when it was looking like it may still hit in october). I'm anticipating conan and warhammer much more though.

[Havelock]

The contract contains specific
sales targets, which, if met, will make 'Age of Conan` a
highly successful game.

Is there a point to that sentence?