According to an article by GameIndustry.biz (pointed out by Eurogamer), Age of Conan subscriptions have crumbled severely, to less than 100,000, according to a report by E24. Perhaps what makes it worse is that Age of Conan was the third best selling game of 2008, having shipped over 1 million copies and, after a few months of release, having over 700,000 subscribers. Today, the developer of the game, Funcom, announced a net operating loss of $23.3 million, which resulted in the Chief Financial Officer of the company, Olav Sandnes, resigning.
The company, still in a reasonably safe cash position, with $39.4 million, said "The average subscriber retention for the Age of Conan game has improved in 2009. The subscriber base of Age of Conan has consequently been relatively stable during this period. The average playtime per subscriber has also increased during the last months." Share prices in the company have also been increasing, slowly, since the start of 2009, although it"s unlikely they will reach the $50 per share mark for a while, currently at a painfully low $4.10.
The news isn"t all bad - in fact figures show that since 2009, things might be looking better for Funcom. However, in regards to Age of Conan, apart from making it available in more territories, there"s not much being done to make it more appealing to new users. The remaining life of Age of Conan seems to be rapidly declining, and - despite the few glimmers of hope - there"s little to suggest otherwise.