Lord of the Rings Online Has Gained 2 Million Players Since Changing Subscription Model

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It appears that Turbine’s decision to change Lord of the Rings Online from a pay-to-play MMO to a hybrid subscription model last September was a good idea: after reporting earlier this year that revenue has tripled since the change, Turbine is now saying that over 2 million new players have registered since the game went free-to-play.

That isn’t a worldwide figure, either, that’s 2 million new players just in North America. “The transition to our hybrid model has been outstanding,” said Turbine in an interview with Buffed, “and attracted over 2 million players to register in North America alone.”

Lord of the Rings Online uses a hybrid of free-to-play and pay-to-play models – users can play the game and access most of the game’s content for free, but premium features become available for those who purchase items from Turbine’s LOTRO Store and those who decide to go VIP by paying a monthly subscription fee. So far, that subscription model seems to have Turbine laughing all the way to the bank.