What Difference Did Going Free-To-Play Make For DC Universe Online?


We know that DC Universe Online‘s recent switch from subscription-based MMO to free-to-play added one million subscribers to the game in one week, but what does one million free players mean to the bottom line? How’s a 700 per cent increase in daily revenue, for starters?

Sony Online Entertainment head honcho John Smedley hit Twitter this morning to share some exciting numbers generated after flipping the DC Universe Online free-to-play switch. Numbers like a 6 per cent growth in the title’s player base since the change. And that’s not just people popping on to see what the game is about and leaving; more than 85 per cent of daily logins are return players, coming back for more free super heroic goodness.

And of course there’s the money that comes when you stop making players pay and making it an option instead. That 700 per cent is split almost evenly between PlayStation 3 (53 per cent) and PC (47 per cent) players, with the most popular items in the game’s cash marketplace being the Vanguard of the Heavens character skin and additional character slots.

With statistics like these it seems silly for any new major MMO title to launch with subscription fees in place. You listening, Star Wars: The Old Republic?

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