Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures' Jørgen Tharaldsen, Product Director for Funcom recently spoke with IGN.com about the state of the MMOG market and where the future might take us for the genre and games like AoC.

Carolyn Koh: Why is there this current fascination for other business models? Is the subscription model just not right for the Western market anymore? Why does the subscription model work for Funcom and its MMOs?

Jorgen Tharaldsen: As the MMO companies spend ever more on games, they are also looking for new ways to make money to ensure that they don't lose money. It's as simple as that.

At the same time there is a new movement of games coming, namely the free-to-play MMO games which costs less to make. They have (in most cases) also a lesser production value, and getting people into those universes is a lot easier by lowering the threshold (making them "free" versus a paid subscription). As people start to enjoy these games many eventually start to purchase items, and it seems likely that they spend more using a different model than paying a subscription. This evolution actually benefits the gamers, I think, as we can play for free for quite a while before making a decision on whether we want to proceed or not.

• You can read the full Interview here.
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