Report: Funcom cutting 20 percent of staff, The Secret World delayed

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 29th 2009 at 11:20AM }

According to a report from Norwegian news site E24, Funcom recently announced in a stock exchange briefing that it would be cutting 20 percent of its staff and, as a result, would delay the launch of The Secret World by a few months. Following this announcement, the company's stock took a sizable 18 percent dip -- as did our hearts, which became somewhat infatuated with the developer's mysterious MMO at the Penny Arcade Expo.

This news is somewhat confusing considering the company decided to open a brand new Montreal chapter earlier this month, where it was planning on hiring more than 100 people over the next year and a half. We've contacted Funcom to find out the reason for the cuts, and to see if this new studio will be affected.

[Via Edge Online]

Tags: firing, funcom, industry, layoffs, mmo, montreal, norway, the-secret-world

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

I Are ODST @ Sep 29th 2009 11:34AM

I REALLY hope they don't go under. I am really looking forward to this game.

Clinton @ Sep 29th 2009 11:11PM

me too i signed up and everything

Drew -- PS360: uphillbothways @ Sep 29th 2009 11:36AM

"The Secret World delayed"

But how do you know!?

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio [Planeteer | Power of the Anti-Fanboy Bitch Slap] @ Sep 29th 2009 11:42AM

I read just about every post on joystiq yet I've heard nothing about this game. Maybe it's for the best.

Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 29th 2009 11:43AM

Tags are your friend.

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio [Planeteer | Power of the Anti-Fanboy Bitch Slap] @ Sep 29th 2009 11:47AM

Well considering that there are only 2 other stories about this game since May it doesn't look like there was much excitement for it.

Ed @ Sep 29th 2009 11:55AM

That's because there's really very little information on the game.

I'm excited for it because of the premise. Fantasy MMORPGs have been done to death, and sci-fi MMORPGs are fairly common these days as well, but an MMORPG set in the present day? Especially one that involves conspiracies like the Illuminati and the Knights Templar. The concept grabbed me.

But if they're going to half-ass it with a limited budget, they should just cancel it. It's too good of a concept to just throw it out there for kicks.

Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Sep 29th 2009 11:56AM

It's an attempt at a console MMORPG, so naturally, it's going to get immediate attention anytime something happens that could affect it.

iamthestatic @ Sep 29th 2009 12:19PM

Go to www.darkdaysarecoming.com and check it out. Also a lot of big time game sites have had big write ups on the game recently. (I liked Eurogamer's and Gamespot's articles.) The other thing that you missed, and I missed it too, was the ARG they put on to eventually launch the dark days are coming website. There's info on the dark days forums.

iamthestatic @ Sep 29th 2009 12:14PM

You'd think I'd be desensitized to it by now, but these out-of-the-blue delays on games I'm looking forward to still get to me. SRSLY devs, you're ripping my heart out.

TSW is definitely the most intriguing game on the outer reaches of my radar. Very psyched about playing Dragon faction with my buddies on Xbox Live.