UPDATE: Funcom has announced that players who download the trial from the Age of Conan site before Jan. 1, 2010 will have unlimited free access to the first 20 levels. More information can be found after the jump.

If you're a FilePlanet subscriber, it looks like you have a permanent free ticket to the Hyborian kingdoms. FilePlanet is currently offering keys that give players unlimited lifetime access to the first part of Age of Conan for free. The offer sounds similar to Warhammer Online going free to play through Tier 1.

FilePlanet is only offering these Age of Conan unlimited free trial keys through Dec. 31 to residents of North America and Europe, so sign up as soon as possible if you'd like to take advantage of the deal. Players who sign up will also receive an Enruned Kosalan Ring which grants its bearer in-game damage bonuses.

Anyone who downloads, registers, and starts playing the trial before January 1st 2010 will be able to enjoy all of level one to twenty – the entire Island of Tortage experience – without ever having to upgrade to a full account or pay a subscription fee. This unique Unlimited Free Trial campaign is only available until January 1st as a special holiday offer to anyone who wishes to experience the sexy and savage world of Conan.

“Our original seven day trial has been very successful so far,” says Morten Larssen, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Funcom. “But with the holiday season coming up this is the perfect time to shake up our trial offer a bit and try out something new. So everyone who downloads the trial before January 1st will be able to play the first part of the game for free, forever. We are confident that many of those taking advantage of this offer will choose to become permanent players, allowing them to experience all of what the game has to offer including all the additions and improvements introduced since launch.”

Celebrate the holiday season by downloading the trial today, and experience ‘Age of Conan’ in all its savage, sexy and brutal glory. Go to www.ageofconan.com/trial to download the client and start your barbaric adventures today. Players can level up as many characters as they want before choosing to move on and explore the rest of the game. Players will be able to enjoy all of what Tortage Island has to offer, complete with player vs. environment and player vs. player gameplay. Users must take advantage of this offer before January 1st, and will need to log in to the game for the offer to take effect.

Launching in May last year ‘Age of Conan’ quickly became a smash hit in retail, shipping over 1.2 million copies around the world. In North America, the most prominent online gaming market in the west, ‘Age of Conan’ became the third best-selling PC title of the year in 2008. In the weeks after launch ‘Age of Conan’ simultaneously topped the charts in 17 countries, and the game received critical acclaim from gaming press across the globe. ‘Age of Conan’ is now available in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Polish localized versions, and is being prepared for launch in Korea as well.