The Dofus Millions
I did mean to post about this earlier in the week, but I got distracted by a bee or something. Dofus creators Ankama games are claiming ten million players. The super-cute French MMO has been quietly hooking people in for quite some time now, but in the last year the game seems to have expanded drastically in popularity. It's worth remembering that Ankama could just be claiming ten million accounts, like so many other free MMOs whose rosters never truly go inactive. Nevertheless none of this is really relevant, what is relevant is that the option subscribe to the game - for extra options, and presumably higher-level hats - is being taken up by hundreds of thousands of players. The Ankama report says that one and a half million people are paying £3.90 a month to play with the enhanced options.
I can kind of see why, too. I found it quite charming when I spent some time with it a couple of years back. It's impossibly cute and friendly, with a low difficulty curve and none of the off-putting hardcore brass-knobs that hang so opulently off the rest of the MMO fraternity. (Although they've recently turned around and out-done even the most hardcore of MMOs with an option for permanent-death on their "heroic" servers. Blimey!) Anyway, well done Dofus. That full press release after the jump.
DOFUS reaches the 10 million-player threshold
Roubaix, France - 7 October 2008 - DOFUS, the leading massively multiplayer online game in France now counts 10 million players, including 1.5 million subscribers, throughout the world.
DOFUS, the 1st massively multiplayer role-playing game (MMORPG) in Flash, created by the ANKAMA Group, has gathered 10 million players, including 1.5 million subscribers since its release. Its principal appeal lies in its manga-inspired graphics and gripping tactical gameplay which have seduced players of all ages and backgrounds.
Ever since its release in September 2004, the number of players has steadily increased both in France and around the world: 30% of the players are non French-speakers. Today DOFUS is played in 150 countries and will soon be available in 10 different languages.
The English-language international version, launched in 2005, has attracted thousands of players from Spain, the UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Brazil and the US. As DOFUS had such great success, German and Spanish versions of the game were released in 2007. Italian, Dutch and Portuguese versions of the game are now also available… and there are more to come!
ANKAMA is also developing a new online game Wakfu, which is the sequel to the DOFUS saga and takes place 1,000 years later. Wakfu is currently in Beta test and both the player communities and the gaming press are looking forward to its release!
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Today, Mily – a new French server, opens on DOFUS!____________________
About the ANKAMA Group
Founded by Anthony Roux, Camille Chafer and Emmanuel Darras in Roubaix in 2001, ANKAMA is an independent group which produces digital creations and employs over 300 people. The international success of the group's MMORPG DOFUS, with more than 10 million players, enabled ANKAMA to branch out into several related industries: online games, publishing, animations, web design, press, mobile phone services, video games for next gen' consoles.
www.ankama-group.comDOFUS
Treading a lush path between video game and animated cartoon, DOFUS brings a whole new dimension to online Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games.
With its manga-inspired graphics, gripping tactical game play and wild humor, DOFUS has created a unique style of its own for other MMORPGs to follow and currently boasts 10 million players worldwide. www.dofus.com