Torque powered MMORPG Minions of Mirth developer Prairie Games has recently seen a bit of investment come it’s way, with industry veteran Randel Reiss (Sony Online Entertainment, Perpetual, GameLaw.org, etc) acquiring a majority stake in the 2-person indie development studio based in, of all places, North Dakota. The fantasy-themed MMORPG is somewhat small, but has grown exponentially in the past months, currently home to around 15,000 subscribers, reportedly.

Press release and links after the jump..

New Chairman Makes ‘One-Time Fee’ For “Minions of Mirth” MMORPG Permanent Feature

Wishek, North Dakota – Former Technopop President and Founder Randel B. Reiss has announced today that he has acquired a major stake in Wishek, North Dakota’s Prairie Games, Inc. Mr. Reiss’ first act as the company’s new Chairman was to announce that the ‘one-time fee’ offering on Prairie’s flagship “Minion’s of Mirth” massively multiplayer role playing game (MMORPG) title will now be a permanent feature of the game.

Originally conceived as a promotional device to help Minions of Mirth attract customers and gain market share, the “pay once and play as long as you like” subscription model has proven to be very effective. The use of this approach helped Minions of Mirth practically quadruple its numbers from 4,000 subscribers to 15,000 subscribers in a matter of weeks.

“Minions of Mirth is an MMORPG that you can play right now!” says Prairie Games President Josh Ritter. “While there is a tidal wave of MMORPG hype hitting the industry every day, the lion’s share of these titles are still in development. This is very confusing for game players that want to play games and not just look at ads.”

As for Prairie’s new Chairman and his ability to hit the ground running, the team in North Dakota is very excited about working with Randel Reiss. Mr. Reiss has been described as a lifer in the software entertainment industry. He joined the industry when the concept of the computer game was still in its infancy and has been a dedicated participant throughout the industry’s rollercoaster like history.

The concept of a ‘one-time fee’ MMORPG is very novel given the expectations of most of today’s MMORPG subscribers. Typically, MMORPG players have to pay a subscription fee every month in order to stay in the game and maintain their characters and relationships. The pay once concept may be seen as a competitive threat by some of the established MMORPG vendors.

According to Mr. Reiss, “I loved the idea of the one-pay approach the first time I heard it. It gives the players more control over their own game and their own finances. While this may be viewed as heresy by some of the other game companies, I see making this a permanent feature as my own personal contribution to the evolution of the MMORPG.”

As far as upsetting other game companies that may see one-pay as cutting into their profit margins, Mr. Reiss is not concerned. He sees the evolution of the MMORPG model as inevitable.

“I’m sure that Blockbuster was rattled when Net Flix came out with no-late-fees,” says Prairie Games Vice President Lara Engebretson. “Blockbuster made a ton of free money off of those late fees. The fact is nobody can stop progress and if Net Flix hadn’t done it someone else would have. Given the choice, I would rather be the company introducing the new way of doing business, rather than the company fighting it.”

Read more: Prairie Games