[Merth]

FFXI > EQ?

http://www.1up.com/article2/0,4364,1392293,00.asp

PlayOnline Nets 400,000 Subscribers

Square Enix has racked up 430,000 subscribers to its PlayOnline online gaming service worldwide, the publisher announced at its midterm press conference today. The service, which powers Square's MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, broke through the 400,000 user mark approximately 18 months after its Japanese debut in May 2002.
The recent release of Final Fantasy XI for the PC in the United States of course provided a significant boost to the service's user base. Square Enix said it has shipped around 200,000 copies of the PC version to the US market already, and picked up around 100,000 new subscribers so far.

The boost to FFXI's player base provided by the American version brings it into the highest echelon of MMORPG popularity. It's now surprisingly close to Sony Online Entertainment's market-leading EverQuest, which claims a base of more than 500,000 subscribers.

Of course, FFXI hasn't even been out in the US for a full month yet. As soon as we're past the first month, they'll find a lot of people that didn't continue beyond the free trial.