Conan Exiles Will Join Xbox Early Access Program
By Rob Gordon 02 March 2017
Xbox One owners interesting in playing Conan Exiles now have a release window to mark off on the calendar. Developer Funcom has now confirmed that the Conan-themed survival title is set to come to the console in the third quarter of 2017, with the game making up part of the Xbox One Game Preview early access program.
The release window was announced by the developer in its recent fourth quarter financial report. In the report, Funcom confirmed that Conan Exiles will enter into the Xbox One Game Preview program in its section regarding major releases for the game, confirming that the sandbox-survival title will be part of Xbox One Game Preview, as well as on the receiving end of an additional Biome during Q3 2017.
The financial report also laid the groundwork for what updates Conan Exiles players can expect over the coming months. The game will see another 4-6 major game updates over the course of 2017, before one major update in 2018, but gamers can expect smaller patches to hit for the early access title every week or two. Finally, the full release of the game is set to arrive for PC, Xbox, and PS4 in the first quarter of 2018.
The financial report made happy reading for those looking to see Funcom grow, particularly from the perspective of Conan Exiles. The game sold 480,000 units within its first month on sale, which is nearly at the point of the developer’s end-of-year goal. Thankfully, it means that there has been minimal impact from the spike in piracy the game received recently.
In other good news for Funcom, Conan Exiles has also already reached the point where it is profitable. According to the financial report, the title only cost $4.5 million to make, and that amount has already been recouped back in early access sales. This means that the development will now be able to put more back into the game – when they are not answering AMA questions about nudity and server load at least – with a planned $5-10 million more to be spent on the game.
Funcom is also planning to work on some new projects this year. Apparently, there are some new games in the early concept stages, with pre-production set to start in the second half of 2017, and one of these titles is a “new game concept” using the Conan the Barbarian IP. Hopefully, Conan Exiles will be able to act as a great template for whatever Funcom chooses to do with the property next.
