GamesRadar - Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures

Funcom Sign Enlighten for The Secret World & Age of Conan (News)

Sep 14, 2009

Funcom is the latest company to announce that it has adopted the market-leading lighting technology Enlighten from Geomerics. Enlighten will be used in the The Secret World as well as the highly anticipated expansion of Age of Conan. The new look of Age of Conan, with Enlighten technology incorporated, was first demonstrated publicly at GDC Europe and Gamescom in Cologne.

Age of Conan with difficult conversion for 360 (News)

Jul 7, 2009

Craig Morrison, the producer of the MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures:

"A small team is working to make our technology to work on Xbox 360. I think we can say that the technical challenge of the conversion of our technology and our engine was more difficult than we initially expected"

Age of Conan Getting Face Import Tech 'Soon' (News)

Apr 21, 2009

Shacknews writes;

Players of Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will soon be able to bring their own faces and voices into the mature PC MMO thanks to a three-way collaboration between Big Stage Entertainment, GGL Global Gaming, and developer Funcom.

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - Trial trailer (Video)

Apr 15, 2009

Build castles, siege castles, and be a drunken, womanizing, homicidal bastard in this MMO based on the works of author Robert E. Howard.

Mirror's Edge Clashes with Conan at Nordic Awards (News)

Mar 30, 2009

Nominations for the 2009 Nordic Game Awards have been announced, with both Mirror's Edge and Age of Conan Hiborian Adventures leading the nominations in the same two categories.

EA DICE's divisive Parkour-ish FPS is nominated for Artistic Achievement and Best Nordic Game, the same two categories that Funcom's Age of Conan: Hiborian Adventures stands in.

As well as these two categories, the event will be offering an award for the Best Nordic Children's Game and the Best New Nordic Talent.

Age of Conan 360 still in development, progress being made (News)

Feb 25, 2009

Yesterday Strategy Informer reported that Funcom posted a $23m loss, CFO resigns, and Conan numbers under 100K, which lead us to question the development of the Xbox 360 version. Based on this bad news, we contacted Funcom to see if development of the Xbox 360 version was still ongoing.

Age of Conan to defend Xbox 360 from PS3 MMO-fest (News)

Jan 27, 2009

Gamer.Blorge:

"Everyone has been talking about the MMOs coming to the PS3 in 2009. However, the MMOs coming to the Xbox 360 have been getting zero hype. There definitely are a couple games slated to hit the system in 2009. One of them is Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Despite the rumors of its demise this game is still in development.

Sony has been hyping the company's MMO lineup recently with 2009 in full swing. Some of the titles that have been shown are: The Agency, DC Universe and Free Realms. Personally I am fairly excited about DC Universe because the game is directed by the famed DC Comics artist, Jim Lee."

Age of Conan Still in Development for Xbox 360 (News)

Jan 22, 2009

Age of Conan game director Craig Morrison has confirmed Funcom is still working on an Xbox 360 version of the MMO.

"There is a small, dedicated team working on the Xbox platform at the moment," he said, speaking in Eurogamer's live text interview.

"We still plan on having a 360 version of the game at some stage but I'm afraid I can't go into specifics beyond that at the moment," Morrison said.

Age of Conan 360 "still in development," says Funcom (News)

Dec 2, 2008

In an email to MTV, Age of Conan product manager Erling Ellingsen said that despite last week's staff cuts the MMO's 360 version is still very much in development.

The note in full:

Our aim is for this to not affect development of 'Age of Conan,' or any of our other games, at all. We are sticking firmly to our plans. The Xbox 360 version of the game is still in production, but as before we are not committing to any specific dates. I wish I could give you more information, but I can't at the time being.

Age of Conan was released back in May for PC. The 360 version is due next year.

By Mike Bowden

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - Ymir's Pass (Video)

Nov 14, 2008

Build castles, siege castles, and be a drunken, womanizing, homicidal bastard in this MMO based on the works of author Robert E. Howard.

Funcom talks about the success of Warhammer Online (News)

Oct 7, 2008

Strategy Informer had the chance to ask Jørgen Tharaldsen, Product Director for Funcom, a few questions relating to the recently released MMO Age of Conan, which has been released on the PC, but is also expected for the Xbox 360.

We wanted to know how Funcom felt about the release of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, as its been hailed as the fastest-selling new MMO of all time. Jørgen Tharaldsen told us that he's happy for EA as the MMO genre needs success stories besides WoW.

Funcom: Xbox 360 Age of Conan won't release for another year, isn't our key priority right now (News)

Oct 7, 2008

Strategy Informer recently had the chance to ask Jorgen Tharaldsen, Product Director for Funcom, a few questions relating to the recently released MMO Age of Conan, which has been released on the PC, but is also expected for the Xbox 360.

Funcom has been quiet about the Xbox 360 version of Age of Conan, so we asked Jorgen Tharaldsen how development for this version is coming along, and he told us that the Xbox 360 version is not the companies key priority as there are a massive amount of PC gamers already playing the game.

Funcom: Age of Conan server merge was requested from the Playerbase (News)

Oct 6, 2008

Strategy Informer recently had the chance to ask Jorgen Tharaldsen, Product Director for Funcom, a few questions relating to the recently released MMO Age of Conan, which has been released on the PC, but is also expected for the Xbox 360.

We asked Jorgen about the recent server merges that had taken place, to see if he could enlighten some of the concerns that sparked from this announcement, because some people thought that this could be the beginning of the end for the MMO. Jorgen said that he was confident that people playing Age of Conan are happy about the news, and that it was requested from the playerbase.

Conan 360 "still very much set to happen" - In 2009, but PC still dominant focus (News)

Sep 3, 2008

Funcom has told Eurogamer that an Xbox 360 version of Age of Conan will definitely be released.

"The Xbox 360 version is still very much set to happen and we are working on it," said Erling Ellingsen, chief horn-blower for Funcom.

"However, there are no dates set, even though we aim for a 2009 release. Our big priority now is, of course, the PC version and fixing the issues with it and improving it for our current players."

Work began on the console MMO in December 2006, but was put to one side during the run up to the PC launch in May this year.

Age of Conan Expansion Coming In 2009 (News)

Aug 24, 2008

At the recent Leipzig Games Conference, Funcom developers announced that the first expansion to Age of Conan is planned for a 2009 release. Details about the expansion are sparse, but a significant amount of new areas appear to be in development for that and a free upcoming content patch. Massively points out a video which showcases some of the new content. 1Up has a piece of concept art for the expansion.

Age of Conan will tie in with new film (News)

Aug 20, 2008

Speaking at the Leipzig Games Convention, Funcom's Erling Ellingsen confirmed that the company's Age of Conan MMO will tie in with the new Conan film being produced by Lionsgate.

Age Of Conan Invades GC (News)

Aug 16, 2008

Don your loincloth, polish your bastard sword, and get ready to invade Germany as Funcom announces their plans for Age of Conan at next week's Games Convention in Leipzig. They'll be showing off new locations, new content, and new features of their massively-multiplayer swords & sorcery title during live stage shows at the convention, with Blue Orb on hand to show players how to work the game with a gamepad and the TripleHead2Go guys granting hands-on time with the game on a three-screen setup. There's also loot to be had in the form of free game trials, limited edition game DVDs, and inflatable swords - because giving out real swords would have been pricey, and things would have gotten ugly rather quickly.

Metal legends to rock out in Sacred 2 (News)

Aug 6, 2008

From gameplayer, news that German 'Fantasy Metal' band Blind Guardian will perform in Sacred 2: "This whole farrago sounds like something Spinal Tap would get up to!"

Haze Beats Conan (News)

Jun 9, 2008

Despite the unenthusiastic and often mediocre reviews and scores given to Haze, according to Develop, the game developers news site, Haze has come in as a new entry at number 12,just under Rock Band, the highest climber. It even beat the mighty Age of Conan which has come in as a new entry at number 13.

Now that's not bad for a game with overall below average mixed reviews. Perhaps this is another indicator of reviewers being out of touch with what gamers in the real world get their kicks from.

Age of Conan to pass 1 million units shipped (News)

Jun 6, 2008

VideoGamer writes:

Funcom has announced that Agee of Conan, a PC MMO, will pass the one million units shipped milestone in less than three weeks after its launch.

In the US Age of Conan has now moved past 500,000 units shipped, helping the game achieve the biggest MMO launch since World of Warcraft.

"Sales data shows that Age of Conan is the biggest MMO launch since World of Warcraft," says Funcom Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Morten Larssen. "The numbers are very promising, and we are very proud to be one of the fastest selling PC games ever in a launch month and the biggest simultaneous Europe/US MMO launch in history."

Age of Conan launched on May 20 in the US and on May 23 across Europe.

Breast outcry "very surprising" to Funcom (News)

Jun 4, 2008

Funcom has told Eurogamer that it was very surprised by the strength of the reaction to the accidental shrinking of breasts on female models in Age of Conan.

Update on the Conan PvP Fiasco (News)

Jun 1, 2008

Kotaku writes:

"I was gonna try to get this up yesterday but then we had our site meltdown. However, I know all of you are interested in the online civil rights of Something Awful MMO guild members, and Funcom has stepped in to assure they will not be griefally profiled now or in the future on Age of Conan.

Here is a response from someone more senior than the GM who pleaded with the Goons to play nice. According to the Funcom customer service lead, that GM "made the honest mistake of giving out his personal opinion that maybe keeping a lower profile might be handy in avoiding a negative reputation."

Like SA ever gone out of its way to avoid a negative rep. Anyway, here's the clarified position on what is and ain't OK."

EURO CHARTS: Age Of Conan slays GTA IV (News)

May 30, 2008

PC-only title knocks Rockstar epic off its perch in Germany and Sweden

Age of Conan Updates (News)

May 28, 2008

IGN writes:

"Fresh off the heels of releasing an update to the highly successful Age of Conan MMORPG yesterday, developer Funcom has once again graced us with its presence by releasing yet another substantial patch hours after the previous update. For those keeping count, that's 2 patches within one day, if that's not love, we don't know what is. The patch notes, according to the game's official forums are listed in the article"

New Game Releases for the Week of May 18, 2008 (News)

May 17, 2008

Highlights this week include Wii Fit (Nintendo Wii), Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (PC), and Haze (PS3).

Check out the full list of new video game releases (USA) for the week of May 18, 2008 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Sony PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and PC!

Age of Conan - Hyborian strongholds (Preview)

May 16, 2008

Before there was Conan the Barbarian, there was Robert E. Howard. The prolific author practically invented the sword-and-sorcery genre of pulp fiction in the early 20th century, and Conan was his most famous creation. In 1932, inspired by the lush hill country of central Texas, Howard envisioned the ancient land of Cimmeria and its champion, a brave and headstrong warrior named Conan. ...

Age of Conan week, day 4 - monster mash (Preview)

May 15, 2008

Like a medieval NCAA tournament, raiding in Age of Conan is about gradually making your way to the big showdown. Dungeons raids will be handled by groups of 24 (though 16 highly skilled players may get the job done) in three stages; completing each tier gets you access to the skills and equipment you’ll need to tackle those that follow.

Above: Guilds need to divide and conquer if they're going to beat back multiple bosses per ...

360 and PC owners to play Age of Conan together (News)

May 15, 2008

Age of Conan developer Funcom has revealed that it intends to allow PC gamers to play with console gamers when the Xbox 360 version is released around this time next year.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com at the launch of one of 2008's most anticipated MMORPGs in Oslo, Norway, product director Jorgen Tharaldsen also threw PS3 owners a life line, saying it wasn't "ruling out" a version for Sony's console.

Tharaldsen revealed that following the release of the PC version of Age of Conan, which will go live on 17 May for gamers who have paid for early access codes, developer Funcom will split up into three sections, one to speak with players and fix problems, one to work on future expansion packs and one to work on the already announced Xbox 360 version. It has, Tharaldsen said, been working on the Xbox 360 version "for a long time".

When asked when the Xbox 360 version would be coming out, Tharaldsen said: "Next year... We're trailing about a year. No longer than a year. But we're pretty much Guinea pigging our way into the Xbox, just like Microsoft is. We are exploring frontiers on how to deal with the consoles and online games."

Tharaldsen said that the developer would like for PC and Xbox 360 players to be able to play together, and that Age of Conan will be "the same essence and the same experience" on Microsoft's console.

Age of Conan - Tortage Island guide (Preview)

May 14, 2008

Tortage Island is "the jewel of the Barachan Isles," but it's a gem with some sharp edges. You'll spend all of Age of Conan's first 20 levels in, around, and in some cases under the island's many and varied environments, all of which are populated by flora, fauna, and folks who'd like to see you six feet under. As in any MMO, travel time is also a factor - expect to do a fair bit of running between points - so the better you know your ...

Aussies Get Age of Conan Fast! (News)

May 14, 2008

AusGamers has been granted permission by Funcom to locally host a download mirror for the forthcoming MMO Age of Conan: The Hyborean Adventures. The massive 14gig file is now locally hosted for Australians, and the download speeds from AusGamers, thanks to the relaunching of their site, AusGamers 2.0, are incredibly fast adding incentive to get involved in the Beta for AoC if you live downunder.

'Road map' for future Age of Conan content coming soon (News)

May 13, 2008

Videogamer writes: "Funcom won't rule out making available mounts similar to the pre-order exclusive War Mammoth and War Rhino.

Age of Conan developer Funcom has revealed that it intends to announce a "road map" for future content updates and expansions soon before the game's May 23 European release.

Speaking at the game's official launch in Oslo this afternoon, game director Gaute Godager took to the stage to reveal that while players who have not pre-ordered the game will never gain access to the pre-order exclusive War Rhino and War Mammoth mounts, the developer is "not ruling out the chance" that similar mounts will be made available some time in the future."

Age of Conan - multiplayer (Preview)

May 13, 2008

Even the most solitary pre-level 20 young warrior will eventually have to dive into Age of Conan’s multiplayer mode in order to earn enough experience to progress in the main story line. Luckily, diehard soloists shouldn’t fear Age of Conan’s multiplayer side. Once you tell your trainer at the Thirsty Dog Inn that you’d like to adventure with others, the game will transition to daytime, bringing you together with all the other “day questers” on your server. ...

Age of Conan - single-player (Preview)

May 12, 2008

There’s been no shortage of confidence from the Age of Conan camp, perhaps befitting the game’s namesake: the last press release we received from developer Funcom heralds the game as “one of the most highly anticipated MMO games in history” - and announces that the PC version’s gone gold, despite much Internet buzz among beta testers that it needs more polish than the remaining weeks to launch can possibly ...

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Screenshots)

May 8, 2008

Epic ending to the Age of Conan Open Beta (News)

May 7, 2008

On the 10th of May Funcom is transforming the entire Open Beta into PvP MAYHEM, while at the same time giving testers access to all which Hyboria has to offer!

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - Tutorial (Video)

May 1, 2008

Build castles, siege castles, and be a drunken, womanizing, homicidal bastard in this MMO based on the works of author Robert E. Howard.

Funcom details Conan PvP modes (News)

Mar 31, 2008

Funcom's seen fit to conjure up details on Age of Conan's PvP modes as the MMO creeps ever closer to release.The big, big, big end-game PvP feature in the title is siege warfare, which finds guilds and players fighting for control of battlekeeps with might of arms and siege weaponry. Successful conquering of enemy-held battlekeeps and subsequent ownership rewards all members of the conquering guild with buffs and bonuses.On top of this Funcom ...

New "Age of Conan" FAQ (News)

Mar 8, 2008

Funcom has released the latest FAQ for their upcoming MMORPG, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures:

"It's said that FAQs heave themselves from the dark places of the Earth and return to terrorize the surface world every few years.

The time is upon us once again.

The stars are right and the FAQ is nigh, covering such popular questions as:

Â¿ What kind of PC do I need to run Age of Conan?
Â¿ Will player-made items be better than dropped items?
Â¿ How many people can play on each server?

While we're under no illusions that this will settle all the debates out there, it will give you a place to start and a handy reference. You'll find the new FAQ here.

We hope you enjoy."

The FAQ contains 15 sections:

1. General
2. Real Combat
3. PvP and Siege Combat
4. Classes and Feats
5. Races
6. The single player experience
7. Magic
8. Quests
9. Guild
10. Crafting
11. Technology
12. Equipment
13. City Building, Player Cities, and Defense
14. Gameworld
15. Conan Lore

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Preview)

Feb 29, 2008

The good news is that Conan’s still different enough from every other MMO to be interesting. The better news is that it’s very easy to play. Perhaps even too easy. Every enemy in the Robert E. Howard-inspired game has three points where they can be attacked: left, right and above. These are shown by semi-circles floating about them when targeted. If you hit them on the left, they’ll defend that side, maybe leaving the right ...

GDC: Age Of Conan "ideal for 360", on console 12 months after PC (News)

Feb 20, 2008

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures game director Gaute Godager said that he believes that the MMO's unique and controversial combat system, which has been scathed by some critics, will be ideal for the conversion of the game to a 360 format.

Speaking at GDC yesterday, he also said that the 360 version is likely to appear 12 months after the PC game.

14 new Age of Conan screens (News)

Feb 19, 2008

Funcom's showering us with new screenshots from Age of Conan in honor of the Game Developers Conference kicking off today in San Francisco. 14 shots have whizzed down our internet pipe onto the site. Don't be shy - take a look. ...

Funcom Still Wants Age of Conan on X360, But Controller Remains Biggest Obstacle (News)

Feb 19, 2008

The Game Developers Conference doesn't properly start until Wednesday, but companies are taking advantage of the gathered press in San Francisco to show some 2008 wares. One of MTV Multiplayer's first appointments was an updated look at Age of Conan, currently scheduled to drop on PCs sometime in May.

But, it's also coming to the Xbox 360 - eventually. While catching up with Funcom Product Manager Jorgen Tharaldsen, he updated MTV Multiplayer on the Xbox 360 version's progress. Unfortunately, Funcom doesn't yet have a timeframe for release, as the their resources are devoted to ensuring a May ship date for the PC version.

Funcom Q4 Revenues Fall 19 Percent (News)

Feb 6, 2008

Age of Conan house Funcom suffered declining revenues during the fourth quarter of 2007, as well as increased operating losses.

Fourth quarter revenues were $1.75 million, down from $2.15 million during the same period last year, while group operating losses increased from $1 million to $3.1 million, "mainly due to increased cost levels related to the build up for the Age of Conan launch and exchange rate fluctuations". Nevertheless, the company said it was in a strong financial position, with cash reserves of $52.4 million.

Correction: Age of Conan uncensored in UK, US (News)

Feb 6, 2008

Age of Conan will feature full gore and "breasts with nipples" when it is released in the UK and US later this year. Funcom originally said the game would bear an M for Mature badge in North America, but later corrected itself after an uncensored version was submitted and came away with a Mature 17+ stamp.

The developer apologised for "maybe two small errors". However, the German version will differ from the rest of Europe and have to make do without decapitations, dismemberment and "over-the-top type fatalities".

Age of Conan carries an 18+ rating in the UK because it's mature and gory and about as subtle as Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's an MMORPG but focuses on an active combat system and player versus player battles, making it a hard to prospect to resist. And, according to Funcom, around 500,000 of you have already felt the attraction by joining the ever growing community. That number includes beta sign-ups, forum members and probably hairy barbarian groupies.

The PC version is due to arrive on 20th May, with an Xbox 360 version announced but languishing in the "to follow" category.

Censored Age of Conan for US and Germany (News)

Feb 5, 2008

Shannon 'Pharamond' Drake, Community Manager of Funcom, reports that Age of Conan just gotten its rating, and he can now give us the full and complete story on what we will and won't see in each 'version' of the game:

"Please note this isn't a design decision or something we can reverse. It's a legal (or as good as legal) requirement to sell the game in that particular territory.

With that said:

The US version is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. If you buy the US version, you will not see nipples.

The German version is rated 18+ by USK. The German version has full gore, but will not have decapitation, dismemberment, and over-the-top type fatalities.

The 'elsewhere in Europe' version is rated 18+ by PEGI and is unchanged."

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - updated impressions (Preview)

Jan 24, 2008

Based on our latest look at Age of Conan, we can safely say its looking pretty damn great. The combat system has been changed in a number of very definite, deliberate ways, and it improves the feel of the game immensely. The number of directions in which you can attack has been reduced, combos must now be activated instead of memorised and hopelessly recited, and enemies now display shield icons on either their front, left or right sides - a seemingly trivial inclusion but one that gives ...

Age of Conan delayed again, tech video released (News)

Jan 21, 2008

Funcom has once again pushed back the release of their Age of Conan MMO. The game was already pushed back last August when it received the March 25th release date because the devs wanted to "focus on honing, polishing and improving the heralded qualities of the game, ensuring a fantastic MMO experience when it launches next spring."

Age of Conan "set for March 25" (News)

Jan 17, 2008

Funcom has told us that Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is set for release on March 25. Previously the game had a hazy March-May 2008 release timeframe. Funcom had hoped to get Age of Conan out at the end of 2007, but the developer pushed it back following the decision to make alterations to the game's combat system. Oddly enough, it was the game's real-time dynamic combat system that caused a stir in the MMO community when Age of Conan was first announced. An open beta for the MMO is ...

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Open Beta Coming Soon (News)

Jan 15, 2008

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is an Online Action RPG, mixing a deep, story-driven single-player experience and a massive and brutal multiplayer end-game brings forth the ultimate representation of the Age of Conan. Funcom community manager Shannon 'Pharamond' Drake revealed that there will be an open beta for ten of thousands of people ramping up to the game's launch.

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Collectors Edition Revealed (News)

Jan 11, 2008

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is an Online Action RPG, mixing a deep, story-driven single-player experience and a brutal multiplayer end-game. In addition to the game itself the box comes with an art book, the original soundtrack, a bonus DVD, a faux leather map of Hyboria, 5additional gamekeys which can be given to friends, and priceless in-game items.

CES 2008: Day One Impressions (News)

Jan 9, 2008

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is in full swing and The Game Reviews is here in Las Vegas to bring you our initial impressions of the games and gaming hardware featured at the show. TGR was lucky enough to spend an hour in Microsoft's limousine rubbing elbows with none other than Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing Jeff Bell, Xbox Live's Director of Programming Major Nelson, GamerscoreBlog.com's Online Community Manager Chris Paladino, and several others.

Age of Conan Update and Screens (News)

Nov 24, 2007

Funcom team is never short on news, and this Friday, they have announced the release of a major client update and a new wave of Beta invitations for those lucky enough to stick around the official forums. Additionally, all current testers will be participating this weekend in a Capture the Flag PvP minigame, similar to what was shown in DragonCon.

The women of Hyboria (Feature)

Oct 22, 2007

Oct 22, 2007 According to Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures community team, “Hyboria will be FILLED with women of all kinds, from the “to be expected” female prostitutes to the extremely able female fighters.” They go on to reveal that in contrast to the more sexist setting of Robert E. Howards world, “any female player in Hyboria should be just as strong and able as any ...

Age of Conan - The Women of Hyboria, new screenshots (News)

Oct 20, 2007

Hyboria will be filled with women of all kinds, from the "to be expected" female prostitutes to the extremely able female fighters. In addition to a large selection of clothes, armor, and whatnot, Funcom is delivering a character creation tool which allows for a stunning variety in looks and appearance.

Funcom talks siege warfare (News)

Sep 3, 2007

Funcom has cried havoc and let slip details of the siege warfare in Age of Conan.

It will let you and your guild members take part in massive battles in the Border Kingdom area, earning prestige and bonuses for yourselves, as well as venturing down a separate player versus player progression system.

Age of Conan : A Buff From Sex (News)

Aug 26, 2007

Fresh off the presses at the Games Convention in Leipzig, MMORPG.com has learned from a reliable source at Funcom that characters will be able to have sex and will receive a buff for the action. That is not to say, however, that there will be explicit sex in the game.

New shots from Age of Conan (News)

Aug 21, 2007

Aug 20, 2007 So, at this week's Games Convention in Leipzig Funcom is holding a behind-closed-doors demonstration of Age of Conan's siege warfare system. "In the game," the developer tells us, "guilds will be able to construct entire battlekeeps for themselves and they can even capture and destroy other guild's battlekeeps by going into battle against them. Players will enter into epic struggles for fame, fortune and land using swords, cavalry and catapults as they charge towards each other ...

GC 2007: Barbarians to Invade Europe (News)

Aug 20, 2007

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will be publicly playable for the first time GC, developer Funcom announced today. The massively-multiplayer online role-playing game based on the Conan the Barbarian universe features a siege warfare system that will be shown to media for the first time at GCDC this week. Fans attending the conference will also be able to hack at each other one-on-one on the show floor, Funcom said.

Storage on Xbox 360: MMOs Allowed To Require Hard Drive (News)

Aug 14, 2007

In an unsurprising move (and already a precedent set by Final Fantasy XI, but ignored since), Microsoft confirmed at its Gamefest 2007 that studios working on server-based titles for Xbox 360 are allowed to require the hard drive for their games to run. Games allowed to participate in server-based's "bent rules" is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Microsoft will be asking developers to come up with a set amount of hard drive space to set aside for each game. For example, if World of Warcraft came to Xbox 360, Blizzard would have to tell Microsoft "the game's going to need 4GB of space," even if the game won't necessary install 4GB of content at the start.

Age of Conan pushed back to March 08 (News)

Aug 10, 2007

Funcom has delayed the release of brutal MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures from October to March 25, 2008. Feedback from the beta seems to be the main culprit for the delay. But that's what a beta's for. Both firms say setting a new date means Funcom can continue to focus on "honing, polishing and improving the heralded qualities" of the ...

Eidos set new release date for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (News)

Aug 10, 2007

Funcom and Eidos have announced a new release date for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. The upcoming MMO is now set to be released on the 25th of March 2008.

Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures update: A dungeon unveiled (News)

Jun 23, 2007

Anyone following the Age of Conan development can probably agree to the fact that it boasts some beautiful landscapes. Snow-covered mountains, far-stretching woodlands and burning deserts are all well and good Â¿ but what about those nasty, dark dungeons? It's time we lifted the veil just a little bit and introduced you to that part of Age of Conan as well. There are, after all, some really incredible dungeons in virtual Hyboria.

Age of Conan - hands-on (Preview)

Jun 15, 2007

As we played Age of Conan in a darkened room somewhere in developer Eidos HQ, lead designer Jason Allen Stone suggested the magnificently ugly face of our barbarian might be corrected by limiting the range of his facial customization. We do hope not: our frog-faced, beady-eyed, pseudo-Egyptian machete-wielding murderer was a glorious sight to behold. Few games allow you so much character in a single human face. You might only be able to play humans in Age of Conans online fantasy world, but ...

Funcom: From MMOGs, with love (Feature)

Jun 11, 2007

Funcom is a developer heavily involved with the MMOG genre. With sci-fi massively multiplayer online game Anarchy Online already tucked under its belt, they're currently developing Age of Conan for PC and Xbox 360, and they recently announced The Secret World, raising an eyebrow when they said it's an MMOG that's going to be something completely different than what we're used to. Currently, the developer's keeping its lips firmly sealed where The Secret World is concerned, but with MMOGs ...

Sign up for the Age of Conan beta (News)

Apr 3, 2007

Good news for those of you anticipating the launch of Funcom's MMORPG Age of Conan on PC - beta sign-ups kick off today! There's no confirmed date for the start of the beta yet, but with the developer saying it'll give us the opportunity to play the game months before release, it can't be too far off. On PC, Age of Conan is due to release on October 30. An Xbox 360 version is also in development. Go to beta.ageofconan.com to sign up. As per usual with these things, submitting an application ...

GDC: Age of Conan shows off DX10 prowess (News)

Mar 7, 2007

If you want to know what literal difference the new DirectX 10 graphics drivers will bring to new PC games, check out our new Age of Conan screens by clicking the Images tab. The most notable difference is in the backdrops - where DX9 cuts down background detail to a minimum, DX10 will fill your screen with detail be it near or ...

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures - hands on (Preview)

Mar 2, 2007

Funcom have been doubly blessed while working on what were calling the 360s first, proper MMORPG. Firstly, Warner Bros announced a brand new movie based on Robert E Howards mighty Cimmerian meathead, which would take away the taste of Governor Schwarzeneggers 1982 B-Movie, and make Conan a far cooler character. But even better than that, Microsoft has given them the go-ahead to adapt their PC game for the truly mighty Xbox 360, taking away the taste of being a PC-only niche title… and ...

New Age of Conan footage (News)

Feb 26, 2007

Eidos is keen to show off the visuals of its DirectX 10-based action-RPG, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, on the way to PC and Xbox 360. This footage gives you a scenic fly-through of a town called Khemi - a dusty town near a stretch of water, in what the trailer proudly boasts to be "in-game" graphics. Although to be honest, apart from some nice water effects and a decent volume of buildings, we found it rather ...

Age of Conan Interview, part two (Feature)

Feb 20, 2007

We've been speaking to Funcom about its forthcoming PC and Xbox 360 MMORPG Age of Conan: Hyborian adventures, and last week we brought you part one of the resulting interview. Today - guess what? - we're bringing you the second and concluding part of our chat with product manager Erling Ellingsen... What occurs in the single-player section of the game, and when that's completed is it a traditional MMORPG that we move into? Erling Ellingsen: The single-player feature has changed much since we ...

Age of Conan Interview, part one (Feature)

Feb 20, 2007

Blizzard's all-dominating World of Warcraft is set to face its most serious challenge yet in 2007, a number of new 'big name' MMORPGs preparing to enter the market before the year is out. Product manger Erling Ellingsen reveals that on top of creating a compelling MMORPG experience Funcom is aiming to incorporate cross-platform adventuring into Age of Conan. So, while the PC version will release first this October, PC gamers and Xbox 360 gamers could eventually be able to buddy-up and compare ...

Conan dev aiming for cross-platform MMOG-ing (News)

Feb 12, 2007

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures developer Funcom is aiming to support cross-platform adventuring between PC and Xbox 360 with its MMORPG.

Revealing that the developer is "toying around with many different solutions" to cross-platform action, Conan product manger Erling Ellingsen went on to explain possible options in an interview to be published shortly.

"...one is having some shared servers and some servers that are not shared - simply to give players the freedom of choice. What solution we actually do end up with is something we will have to reveal later".

Conan MMO sieges Xbox 360 (News)

Dec 13, 2006

Funcom announced today that the massively multiplayer world of Conan - based on the barbarian created by Robert E. Howard - will be coming to the Xbox 360. When Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures arrives next year, you'll be able to haul any woman into the jungle to live the drunken, womanizing, homicidal life of Conan. Although we don't have a confirmed release date, Funcom has confirmed that it wont be until after the PC version (currently between March and May of 2007). Countless ...

"Age of Conan" Delayed till 2007 (News)

Jul 27, 2006

Along with the rather dull industry news that Eidos picked up publishing rights for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures comes more depressing word that Funcom is also pushing out the MMORPG until 2007.

Despite the fact that Funcom took the path of least resistance when taking Robert E. Howard's vivid but politically incorrect fantasy world and translating it to an MMORPG, I've been looking forward to this one. So bummer. But to take some of the depression off, it looks as if console versions of Age of Conan are planned... the 360 being the most strongly rumored contender.