Gamasutra has an interesting interview up with Aleksander Grondal, producer of the upcoming Battlefield Heroes, a free to play entry in the Battlefield (FPS) series. They were inspired by Korea’s free-to-play MMO model, but how do you make Battlefield free? They intend to run ads on the website and in the game design, such as the loading screens, but not in the actual game itself. You’ll also be able to do microtransactions for real currency.
Aleksander’s own development background includes working at Funcom on Anarchy Online and Dreamfall.
“I think I’ve brought something new into DICE, because they have been all about shooters, and we’re adding a sort of MMO approach. I think that together we make a good fit for Heroes.”
Funcom’s November 12 2008, Q3 2008 report is now out (.pdf). Some interesting stuff in there, check out highlights below:
Financial
- Increased revenues due to Age of Conan.
- Steady revenues from Anarchy Online.
- MMO Success Criteria and Age of Conan Status.
- Short Term and Long Term Focus for Age of Conan.
- Goals: More compelling RPG ruleset, more content utilizing improved ruleset.
Feature Updates
- Q4 2008: Ymir’s Pass, DX10, 2 High Level Dungeons.
- Q1 2009: New Item/RPG system, 1-2 new playfields, new dungeons.
- Q2-Q3 2009: Continuous updates with high end content and systems.
- Q4 2009: Expansion.
Sales and Marketing
- Free trial offers (Q4 2008 – Q1 2009).
- Polish and Russian launches.
- Loyalty program for long-time subscribers (Q1 2009).
The Secret World – Status
- 4 playfields close to complete.
- 4-5 playfields in development.
- Large asset library developed.
- Implementing RPG and combat system.
- 70 people working on project.
- PR and community building commencing early 2009.
The Secret World – Backgrounds
- Funcom created brand.
- Explore a secret world within our world where every mystery, myth, conspiracy theory and urban legend is true.
- MMO gaming combined with Alternate Reality Gaming and social networking.
- Funcom’s proprietary DreamWorld tech.
- PC and Xbox 360 platforms.
