The search for something to being to rival World of Warcraft has been long and fruitless, but the next pretender to the thrown could well be Age of Conan - Hyborian Adventures given the amount of hype it seems to be generating on-line, it's seems that now half a million people have signed up to beta test the game or joined the official fan club.

"The massive attention Age of Conan is generating throughout the international gaming community is simply amazing," says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. "The game seems to be already striking a chord with gamers across the world and we are thrilled and motivated by all the positive feedback we have been getting from both the press and the community."

Proof of the pudding is always in the eating though. We'll have to wait until May 20th for that.