LOTRO revenue has tripled since going free-to-play, says Turbine

Turbine has revealed that profits for Lord of the Rings Online have tripled since the game went free-to-play back in September.

Speaking in an interview with TenTonHammer, executive producer Kate Paiz and director of communications Adam Mersky revealed the good news via the site's latest podcast.

During GDC Online, Turbine announced that both revenue and the player base grew considerably since going F2P, and that over one million new accounts were created, 20 percent of former players had returned, and the game saw a 300 percent increase in concurrent users with a 400 percent increase in active players.

While chatting with TTH, Paiz and Mersky also chatted a bit about Rise of Isengard coming in the later part of 2011, along with a cosmetic system revamp and non-combat pets.

Both chatted with us back in the fall about the possibility of a Rohan expansion in the future, as well as the Battle of Helm's Deep and what it would take to get mounted combat to work in the game.

If you haven't played or have been away for a while, now's the time to come back we reckon.

Thanks, A Casual Stroll to Mordor.