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The Secret World less secret: first in-game footage

by Richard Mitchell { Feb 2nd 2010 at 2:45PM }

Thanks to the video above, we now know more about Funcom's upcoming MMO The Secret World than ever before. And yet, that's still not saying much. The new trailer provides the first in-game footage, specifically showing off the town of Kingsmouth, a game location revealed last month. Of course, no sleepy New England town is complete without a dark secret, and Kingsmouth is no exception.

It seems an evil fog rolled into town one day, taking most of the townsfolk with it, leaving only a handful of unlucky survivors and ... zombies. They aren't your typical, garden variety zombies, though. No, these zombies never die, as the narrator explains, "Kill one, he'll rise in the morning. There's no getting rid of them." There's no telling if the actual game will hold up at this point, but the premise thus far is certainly intriguing.

MMO developers sound off about World of Warcraft's dominance

by Griffin McElroy { Jan 27th 2010 at 11:00PM }

We remember a time when every young buck coming out of the MMO development stables would puff up its cheeks and proudly proclaim itself "The World of Warcraft-killer." However, the industry's a bit older and wiser now, and massive online game devs are at peace with the fact that they'll never catch up to Blizzard's irrationally lucrative MMORPG. A handful of these developers recently spoke to MCV about how it feels to compete with an unstoppable juggernaut. (In short: Not awesome.)

Even in an MMO-heavy year which will see the introduction of Star Trek Online, APB, Final Fantasy XIV and others, Jagex COO Rob Smith thinks 2010's online games "are unlikely to topple the likes of World of Warcraft from their throne, at least in the short term." He's probably right -- unless, of course, 2010 is the year that the FarmVille MMO which we all totally know is going to happen actually happens.

Funcom's The Secret World gets a weird website

by Richard Mitchell { Jan 25th 2010 at 6:00PM }

Since it was first revealed back in 2007, there really hasn't been a lot of information released about Funcom's upcoming MMO The Secret World. We've learned a bit about its factions, enjoyed a handful of screenshots and watched a couple of nifty trailers (embedded after the break, for your convenience). Now, Funcom has opened a website for one of the game's locations, a sleepy New England town (yes, another one) by the name of Kingsmouth. The website is designed as though it were made by an actual chamber of commerce, including plenty of low resolution photos and awkwardly placed Google ads. According to Joystiq's sister site Massively, the site is also full of references to H.P. Lovecraft, which seems appropriate given the otherworldly nature of the game.

There is what appears to be a handful of screenshots in the site's gallery section, and the news section also mentions planning for "Kingsmouth Day 2010," which is set to go down on Saturday, April 3. Whether or not anything will actually happen on that day is anyone's guess.

Gallery: The Secret World (screenshots)

Continued →

Funcom Games Canada enters the Age of Caron

by Mike Schramm { Jan 9th 2010 at 5:00AM }

What to do when you're coming off a year of huge losses but still planning to reinvigorate the company? Get yourself a new CEO! That's what Age of Conan's Funcom did, announcing that Miguel Caron would be stepping into the position at Funcom Games Canada. Caron has been working in Quebec with Lyrtech, an audio and video processing company, as well as with IT firms like BCM International and NoWire Telecom.

Given his background in reducing IT costs and raising market share in the realm of digital communications, we'd guess he's got his job cut out for him at Funcom. The company says it's aiming to expand operations in Montreal, far away from its humble roots in Norway, so we'll see if Caron can summon some Cimmerian strength and get things moving in the right direction over there.

[Via Massively]

Age of Conan gets 'unlimited free trial,' fine print

by Randy Nelson { Dec 14th 2009 at 9:00PM }

Funcom has made its barbaric MMO Age of Conan free-to-play -- well, at least in a sense. From today through January 1, those who download the game client and create an account will be able to play for free until their character reaches level 20 (basically the game's first zone).

Doesn't exactly seem "unlimited," unless ... oh, we see, you can create a new character once you reach the free trial level cap and play through the same content again -- until that character reached level 20, and so on. Funcom is hoping that folks who go in for the trial experience will be so captivated that they'll want to pony up the money to see what lies beyond level 20. (Hint: It's more of the same.)

Funcom is calling this "a special holiday offer to anyone who wishes to experience the sexy and savage world of Conan." We're calling it a cry for attention.

Age of Conan dev Funcom spawns casual MMO label SweetRobot

by Randy Nelson { Dec 11th 2009 at 6:15PM }

Despite a year that saw it incur financial losses, less-than-stellar subscription uptake for its flagship MMO Age of Conan, plus layoffs and a delay for its next major title, The Secret World, Funcom has announced that it's launching a subsidiary called SweetRobot to publish family/kid-friendly MMOs. "Our passion and dedication for high-end online games remains the same, and Age of Conan and The Secret World are still our primary focus," company CEO Trond Arne Aas said in today's announcement. "But we are also eager to explore new opportunities within the industry, and it felt natural for us to step into the social gaming segment especially considering our outstanding experience with making online worlds and communities."

SweetRobot's first title, the free-to-play Pets vs. Monsters, has yet to be stamped with a release date, will be entering beta soon. Aas feels that "the fact that these productions require significantly lower budgets and smaller teams to develop" makes games like it attractive, since "it allows us to try out several concepts instead of placing all our resources into one single bet."

It also lets Funcom, er, SweetRobot do things like make a game that looks sort of like Diablo, only with robot frogs and trees covered in snot. Hey, it's what the focus groups said the kids want!

Funcom posts $9.6 million loss in Q3 2009

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 18th 2009 at 3:15AM }

Following a round of layoffs, a delay for one of its most anticipated titles and continuing reports of the player decline of Age of Conan, we knew that Norwegian developer Funcom wasn't in the best shape. Earlier today, the company posted its Q3 financial results and confirmed our suspicions: The company's reporting a $9.6 million loss for the third quarter of this year. Compared to the company's $3.3 million profit from the same period last year, that's a pretty disheartening decline.

With an expansion for Age of Conan and the ever-intriguing The Secret World presumably due out next year, and (according to a September 30 finance report) $34.8 million in the bank, Funcom's far from down and out. However, until one of those titles hits store shelves, things are probably going to get considerably less fun for Funcom.

Age of Conan offering double XP this month

by Justin McElroy { Nov 12th 2009 at 7:00AM }

OK, so you don't care about Age of Conan any more, but what if you could plow through the content you don't care about even faster? In an unusual attempt to win back subscribers, Funcom's offering double XP throughout November, allowing you to catch up with those poor mopes who had to play through the slow way. Other gifts on offer (depending on how long you subscribe) include a spot in the Secret World beta and a level 40 helmet with a 10% XP modifier.
This new promotion comes just two weeks after Funcom went on a price slashing spree.

Uh, Funcom, just between you, us and the wall ... you're starting to come off as a bit desperate. Just a skosh.

Age of Conan subscription prices slashed, free content added

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 29th 2009 at 12:00AM }

Listen up folks, because Funcom is willing to do anything to get you to drive away in an Age of Conan TODAY. You want discounted subscriptions? You got 'em. You want a 20-percent discount on three month subscriptions? No problem. How about a 30-percent discount for six months? Done. You want more? How about a 45% discount on a full-year subscription. Funcom is just crazy enough to do it.

But wait, that's not all. Act now and you'll receive a free update that adds three new Halloween quests, offering you the chance to earn a demon pet and a legendary weapon known as the "Unholy Backscratcher." In addition, you'll get access to the new Veteran Points system and a new high-level dungeon. Once again, this is absolutely free to subscribers. And, take it from us, this isn't a deal that Funcom would make for just anybody, but you, you look like someone that knows what they want. So come see Funcom, friend. If they can't make you a deal, they'll start choppin' heads™.

[Via Big Download]

Funcom confirms layoffs and Secret World delay, Age of Conan not affected

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 30th 2009 at 11:50AM }

We contacted Age of Conan developer Funcom yesterday after reports from Norwegian news site E24 claimed the company would soon be making major staff cuts. The company's director of communications, Erling Ellingsen, recently responded to our query, confirming the layoffs, and adding that Ragnar Tørnquist's mysterious MMO The Secret World would indeed be delayed "by a few months." Age of Conan and its in-development expansion, Rise of the Godslayer, will not be affected by the layoffs.

Ellingsen explained that the cuts, which would primarily take place in Funcom's Oslo, Norway offices, were made "in order to adjust to the market situation." Though the layoffs are coming fairly soon after the developer announced its new, Montreal-based studio, Ellingsen explained that "this has nothing to do with the establishment of our studio in Canada." We wish our Norwegian game-crafting allies the best of luck in getting back on their feet.

Gallery: The Secret World

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]

Adventure classic The Longest Journey arrives at GOG.com

by Randy Nelson { Sep 17th 2009 at 10:30PM }

Funcom's The Longest Journey is widely regarded as one of the best point-and-click adventures ever made -- it has an impressive metascore of 91 -- and can now be obtained by making the very short journey to the website of retro-ware purveyor GOG.com. $9.99 is the cost of embarking on the Journey, which, unfortunately, is only available for Windows XP / Vista (this is strong incentive to use Boot Camp, Mac users).

We're not sure what exactly is behind the recent resurgence of classic adventure games -- what with many from LucasArts' catalog appearing on Steam and Telltale's salvaging of Monkey Island (not to mention the excellent, multiplatform remake of the first game) -- but if there were a floating dialog tree in front of us right now, we'd click "Why yes, we quite like the trend. Please continue."

Door to 'The Secret World' opens slightly with factions, beta access

by Justin McElroy { Sep 4th 2009 at 11:28AM }

Of the MMOs coming our way, the one that the most Joystiq staffers seem to be captivated by is Ragnar Tørnquist's The Secret World, and, until now, it's been the one that we've known the least about. But a little more light is finally being shed on the modern-day MMO with its three factions -- Illuminati, Templars and the Dragon -- being unveiled; a mere sampling of the info to come during PAX, apparently.

You can see which of the groups you fit into by taking the quiz here. It's fun, but much more importantly, you'll also be securing yourself a chance at beta access. For you lucky thousands at PAX, Funcom is apparently offering some Secret World-based swag at its booth, so you may want to make that one of your first stops on the show floor today.

Gallery: The Secret World

Funcom: Anarchy Online 2 not in the cards (yet)

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jul 9th 2009 at 5:00PM }

Funcom isn't planning on a sequel to Anarchy Online just yet. Speaking with VideoGamer, Game Director Craig Morrison believes a sequel would be "problematic." He notes that AO has been running for eight years and is still making money. We can't blame Funcom for not wanting to mess with a game that's making money.

Morrison explains that Age of Conan and The Secret World are currently the company's two main projects. For now, it looks like Anarchy won't be getting a sequel for ... well, considering MMO development cycles, a good long while.

Give Age of Conan a second chance, get two weeks free

by Randy Nelson { Jul 9th 2009 at 7:01AM }

Have you turned your back on Hyboria, nay, the entire Age of Conan? The MMO may be populated with barbarians, but its developer, Funcom, is really being quite nice to turncoats by offering two free weeks of gameplay if you return. No questions axed.

This re-evaluation campaign comes in advance of August's planned game expansion, which itself is set to be unveiled at Germany's GamesCom, which runs August 19 through 23. The wise barbarian will pocket those 14 days of free play until then.