MMO house NCsoft is adding a new revenue stream to its free titles in a deal with in-game ad firm Double Fusion.
Free-to-play/download MMOs Exteel and Dungeon Runners will be getting in-game and "around game" advertising, as an increasing amount of online game companies enter the "free" model fray.
While the two NCsoft games are free for anyone with an Internet connection, the game maker also offers low-cost subscriptions and virtual item sales, which will supplement in-game ad revenues.
With the change in the new year, bid a fond farewell to Dungeon Runners, which shuffled off the Internets last night. It's always sad to see an MMO go, especially a wacky, fun, free-to-play title. Thankfully, Massively reader Ripper McGee was on-hand last night to capture this screenshot from the final moments.
Stephen Nichols, producer and lead programmer of NCsoft's free-to-play online RPG Dungeon Runners, has announced that the game is to shut down on January 1st 2010. Reason: it's not making money.
"Dungeon Runners just isn't cutting the mustard," Nichols confessed. "If she were a ship, she'd be taking on water... The game just isn't profitable."
NCSoft has shut down a lot of MMOs recently. Hence the reason why I'm skeptical on getting Aion or not.
Well, it was a free game that wasn't very fun to play. Aion is a different beast.
It's been two years since NC Soft released its tongue-in-cheek MMORPG-slash-dungeon crawler, Dungeon Runners, and now the self-proclaimed "Mother of all RPGs" is finally getting primed for a much-awaited cash shop. In keeping with DR's light-hearted tone, the ingame shops will be called TURDs, ostensibly an acronym for Townston's Universally Recognized Dollar which is also going to be the cash shop currency.
