Revenue doubles at LOTR Online

Codemasters’ decision to drop subscription charges from Lord of the Rings Online and switch to microtransactions has been a big success for the game.

Since making the switch, which was announced in June, developer Turbine says that revenues for the game have doubled. In addition, a million new accounts have been created and 20 per cent of the game’s former players have returned.

Peak concurrency has jumped by 300 per cent and the total active players count has increased four-fold.

Insisting that the title wasn’t in trouble before it made the change, the game’s executive producer Kate Paiz told Joystiq: We knew there was more out there for us. When you tell people you no longer have to pay for it, they come in droves.”

Lord of the Rings Online is the second game Turbine has guided through the transition from subs to free after Dungeons & Dragon Online.