Revenues soar after DC Universe turns free

Sales for the DC Universe MMO has jumped sevenfold in around twenty days since the game turned free, according to new data.

Microtransactions for virtual goods has driven the game’s growth, with a flood of new players accessing the title.

Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley has issued a chain of positive announcements in the past three weeks since the MMO became a free-to-play title.

The latest data to come from his personal Twitter feed is that its user base is growing on average at six per cent each day.

About 85 per cent of daily log-ins is from returning players, he added.

PS3 users make up a half of all the game’s audience, Smedley added, suggesting that the PlayStation empire is finally turning around to the idea that free-to-play titles can be good for business.

DC Universe Online released in January this year, and charged customers $15/£10 per month.

Just five days after the game turned free, Sony Online Entertainment recorded a 1000 per cent rise in concurrent users.

Sony Online Entertainment recently said the decision to make the game gratis was “absolutely not” a response to falling subscriber numbers.

Servers for the title struggled to handle the large influx of new users, with issues such as lag and login issues being reported.

The MMO can also be downloaded on PS3 via the PlayStation Network, though it weighs 25 gigabytes.

Virtual items that can be bought within the game will fuel future revenues.