Cryptic Studios, Atari and the Champions Online dev team have announced a gigantic spike in both revenue and player participation in the game since the "Free For All" version was released at the end of January. Concurrent users, unique log ins and revenue have risen over 1000%. To celebrate, devs have a free gift for players that can be claimed at the C-Store.

As a special thank you to all current, new and returning players, we created a special, free XP boost available for pick-up inside the Champions Online game in the C-Store's Bonus tab. The boost increases the speed at which a player gains experience for completing missions and defeating enemies. Players just need a free account or a Gold Membership and they may then claim the free boost either inside the Champions Online game or even on the web C-Store

Read more here.

Gratz to them, but personally i dont think it will last, peoples are just checking it out now, in a few months i predict the game would be back pretty much where it was before it went f2p.

I think this might be more telling of just how bad things had gotten for the game's income than anything else.  CO is actually still a pretty solid game.  It always was.  It just wasn't finished or polished at launch.  The 1000% increase is stunning.  But what will need to happen now is a steady influx of worthwhile content that will make people want to pay (either sub or in the shop).

Originally posted by BillMurphy

I think this might be more telling of just how bad things had gotten for the game's income than anything else.  CO is actually still a pretty solid game.  It always was.  It just wasn't finished or polished at launch.  The 1000% increase is stunning.  But what will need to happen now is a steady influx of worthwhile content that will make people want to pay (either sub or in the shop).

 QFT.  If Cryptic sits on its laurels, this number will shrink to pre-F2P levels within 6-9 months.  They need to churn out new content to make the game look vibrant and evolving and keep people interested.  Their adventure packs have been great thus far.  They just need to step up the frequency.  One adventure pack every 6-8 weeks should do it.

Adventure packs actually dont excite me that much mostly because you do them once or twice and you're like "Ok, did that, what's next?"

Ive been playing CO since release and the things I most look forward to are the stuff that gets more use than a run or two.  I actually look forward to power reviews/updates more than adventure packs since I usually make a new character to test out the changes and have a lot of fun.

I'm in love with my archer since the archery changes.

The plans for SG bases and the new heavy weapon powerset I'm most excited about.

I'm so happy CO got such a great response, I think the method they changed the game (archetypes) was really perfect and the numbers show that.  Ive heard from tons of people in the game that they came to check out f2p and actually loved the game and now sub.  They wouldnt have before because of the required box purchase or the free trial was too limiting.  Now people can play the whole game for free, and if they find they understand the systems and really like it, they can sub or make some cstore purchases.

And about frequent updates, I think they are already proving thats what they are going to do.  We've had maintenance every week since F2P and each one always brings necessary changes, bug fixes, an update, or a new cstore item.

So they're up to what...$150 a month in subscriptions? :-)

Just kidding. That's actually pretty cool. I've been trying to decide whether to load from my DvD's and patch the client or download the new client.

Download the new client!  You'll be patching for a very long time if you go from the dvd.  There are gigabytes of updates. 

Saw that coming. It's not a bad game, it just started that way. Now that it's free, people can see that for themselves without committing to anything. It was the smartest thing they ever did. Now they just need to make STO f2p and they might actually grow into a semi-lucrative company.

I never realized how good superhero goes with F2P. It's casual, fun and gratifying. Most F2Ps are none of those simply because uniqueness is something achieved in the lategame instead of at CC.

I was happy to find they went F2P, until I logged in and was forced to turn my favorite character into a gimped template that 90% of everyone else playing is also using. In my opinion, they've done it wrong.

It will blow over. The game is fun at first but once you realise there is no depth it quickly gets tiresome.

Lovely... the system works, and people are paying in to their unlimited trial. Looks like Nexon got a new competitor in how hard you can screw your consumers, yet have then hand you oodles of money just to get screwed and treated like 3rd class garbage. Before anyone rages, I logged in, checked it out, got to level 20, got tired of being nerfed and not having freeform, the massive costs of their "archetypes", backpack slots, bank slots, etc, and just gave up.

If they give out a free token giving one freeform to all characters, look me up. That or they put it on sale for around $8 or $10. Maybe make a rewards program for buying cash shop money, like how with Turbine you go from "Free" to "Premium", getting free character slots, etc. Otherwise, I won't pay into being screwed by these lackluster crooks.

It's not a bad game  but lacks any real fun end game,this mens those who don't plan to subscribe to get access to the games main feature character customization will tire with it very quickly and leave.Those woh do pay for the customization options will get longer use out of the game but unless your a total altaholic will tire of the game in a couple of months give or take.

But if your an altaholic and/or an RPer who cares less about gamepaly and more about your look and  acting out your own stories this game is probably a good fit.

But unless they use thier new funds to make lot sof new content I beleive their paying customer numbers will start to drop drastically again in a few months.

Game goes Free to Play and revenue increases 1000%.  This pretty much sums up the F2P model and why many people frown on them.

Originally posted by Renko

Hopefully this means we won't have to wait long for Star Trek Online's switch to F2P.

 

if that happens id be happy to play it

Originally posted by VirusDancer

Game goes Free to Play and revenue increases 1000%.  This pretty much sums up the F2P model and why many people frown on them.

People frown on the model because it allows you to buy yourself an edge against other people who are just playing the game. It goes completely against the spirit of gaming to open your wallet and buy "cheats".

Now that the devs make more money from it, I could care less.

One thing I remember most fondly about playing Champions was the amazingly cool Teleport travel power.

I may just rejoin to enjoy teleporting from rooftop to rooftop once more. :)

Well this is proof possative that the western free to play model is prefered over the the subscription model when it comes to nearly all mmos . I'm betting the minute the likes of vanguard , warhammer ,city of heros , age of conan ( the list goes on and on) change to free to play they will make a lot more money and I'm betting it wont be long before the majority of new games offer some version of it or the other . I know its not popular with many mmo players but there will proberbly still be some games out there for you to pay for . The rest of us will enjoy the casual play and if we like a game enough and get far enough into it we'll pay for vip access or micropayment for the content we want .

F2play/optional sub/optional micropayment is the future . Can't wait :)