Sure, a 1000 percent increase in players for DC Universe Online sounds big, but you know what sounds really big? A million new players, which is how many have signed up since the MMO went free-to-play earlier this month. According to Sony Online Entertainment, the number of new signups is evenly split among the PC and PS3 versions of the game.
In short, it turns out that making your product free is a pretty big incentive for consumers. But asking them to stop by is different than having them stick around.