Funcom said their Free MMORPG Anarchy Online will remain free until 2008 in a press release on their official website.

Funcom extends unique free offer in Anarchy Online to 2008*
- Improved free offer now includes ¡®Expansion Pack of the Year¡¯ winner ¡®Notum Wars¡¯ -

Durham, USA - October 27, 2006 - Funcom announces an extension of the completely free and play-all-you-want offer in Anarchy Online until January 2008. The free offer was a major MMO first when originally introduced and to date almost one million players have registered a free account in ¡®Anarchy Online¡¯, making it one of the most successful western MMO games of all times.

The expanded free offer now not only extends the opportunity to play the most heralded sci-fi MMO for free, but also includes the award-winning ¡®Anarchy Online - Notum Wars¡¯ giving free players the chance to take part Player versus Player combat.

¡°The free offer has been an amazing success and a chance to show massive amounts of players how good this game actually is,¡± said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. ¡°With a new expansion around the corner, an improved free offer, continued development and few good sci-fi MMO games around we believe ¡®Anarchy Online¡¯ can remain successful for years to come. At the same time we gain invaluable large-scale data on innovative business and distribution models, enabling us to shape the future of our other games better informed.¡±

The free offer content is now greatly expanded through the ¡®Notum Wars¡¯ addition. When released, ¡®Notum Wars¡¯ brought a whole new dimension to Player vs. Player MMO combat. With it, players could claim control of large areas of land, build a base with an array of towers and then fight it out with other players to achieve control, prestige and power. With numerous additional features ¡®Notum Wars¡¯ now gives all free players a new kind of experience, with more possibilities.

The new and improved offer includes the entire classic version of ¡®Anarchy Online¡¯, named ¡°Best MMO of the Year¡± by PC Gamer US, and ¡®Anarchy Online - Notum Wars¡¯, ¡°Expansion Pack of the Year¡± in Computer Gaming World. Those who play for free are exposed to dynamic in-game advertising, a successful revenue concept implemented by Funcom and developed by Massive Inc. If the player upgrades to additional expansion packs, a monthly subscription fee kicks in, but the player will not be exposed to the ads.

More game information and download links can be found at www.anarchy-online.com . The game is available as a peer-to-peer download through Bittorrent and seeded by Funcom to get the fastest possible download speed.