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CEO Ole Schreiner on Funcom's future and that police investigation
Funcom CEO Ole Schreiner recently spoke with GamesIndustry.biz in a lengthy interview that covers everything from the performance of The Secret World to the future of the company to the recent Økokrim raid. The police action has to do with former CEO Trond Arne Aas and accusations of insider trading relating to The Secret World's launch. "What we know is actually very little and the few things we do know, we can't talk about because it's an ongoing case," Schreiner says. "The charges are two-fold. The first is that Funcom, between August 2011 and August 2012, manipulated the market. The other is that we had wrongfully filed insider information." It's not all gloom-and-doom going forward, though, as Funcom has gotten the Dreamworld tech behind Age of Conan and The Secret World to work on consoles, Android, and iOS devices. "It's not so much about the technology as the knowledge, which we've been building for 13 years," Schreiner explains. "It's a platform -- it has all the elements you need to make, run, and maintain a game from the production tools right down to the customer service and QA tools." Schreiner is also optimistic about Funcom's future, which is currently focused on LEGO Minifigures Online. "This new strategy is a natural evolution of the company," he states. "We would have taken this path anyway, no matter how The Secret World turned out."
Former Funcom CEO investigated for insider trading
Trond Arne Aas, who stepped down as CEO of Funcom the day before The Secret World launched, is back in the spotlight. Norwegian authorities are investigating Aas for allegations of insider trading. An anonymous source reported to The Escapist that Aas' position change to a chief strategy advisor allowed him to attempt to sell off company stock without attracting scrutiny. As of press time, 650,000 of his 1.5 million shares have successfully sold. Stocks were valued at $17.60 a share when the game launched on July 2nd, but were worth $2.17 as of yesterday. Investigators are questioning whether Aas sold his stocks based on insider knowledge or if it was just coincidental timing.
Funcom shares fall, Tornquist defends The Secret World's sub fee
It's not all roses for Funcom following the launch of The Secret World earlier this week. Gamespot is reporting that company shares on the Norwegian Stock Exchange fell by almost 40 percent in recent days. Earlier this week Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas stepped down, citing internal restructuring as the cause. The company has thus far not responded to media requests for comment on its financial fortunes. The Secret World opened to positive reviews in both the gaming press and MMO fan circles, despite having a subscription fee in an era when gamers are increasingly clamoring for free content. Creative director Ragnar Tornquist recently chatted about the game's business model with Rock, Paper Shotgun. "The subscription fee and our business model supports a big, ongoing team. We have content plans for a very long time. We have content that's going to be coming on a regular, ongoing basis," he explained.
Funcom's CEO steps down on the day of The Secret World's launch
If you were the CEO of a major MMO developer and your studio had just finished a major game project, what would you do to celebrate? Buy some drinks? Throw a party? Resign from your position and step into a new advisory role? Apparently Funcom's former CEO Trond Arne Aas opted for the last one, as he has officially ceded the CEO post to former COO Ole Schreiner on the same day that The Secret World has launched. Aas himself is remaining with the company as a chief strategy officer, working on the company's newly announced LEGO game as well as undisclosed other projects. His direct statements indicated that he feels the company is in a solid position on all fronts, meaning that now is the perfect time for him to step into a freer advisory position while still remaining involved with the future of Funcom. It's a surprising move, but we hope it's one that will benefit both Aas and Schreiner in the long run.
Another LEGO MMO springs up -- this time from Funcom
As announced earlier this morning in a press release, Funcom has signed a licensing agreement to produce a new MMO based on the LEGO Minifigures franchise. This MMO will be an extension of the current LEGO Minifigures online presence that already has "millions of unique visitors per month." "The market for family-friendly online experiences intended for children and youngsters is brimming with potential," says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. "This is source material we all know and love and we simply cannot wait to get started working with the LEGO Group on realizing this exciting project." The inevitable question on everyone's mind is, will Funcom succeed where NetDevil failed with LEGO Universe? Only time will tell, but you can bet we'll be providing more info on this new LEGO MMO as it develops. [Source: Funcom press release]
The Secret World nets 1.3 million beta testers
If Funcom were a recruiting agency for a real-world secret society, it might be the most successful one of all time. The studio announced that it's topped all of its previous MMO beta records, as it has roped in 1.3 million registered testers for The Secret World. Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas says this could be the start of something big: "We are very encouraged by both the numbers of beta registrations and the positive feedback we are getting from our testers. The fact that so many gamers want to play The Secret World combined with the high purchase intent among testers is something we consider a very positive indicator." This news comes right before The Secret World's third beta weekend. Funcom also announced that the title has gone gold and is on track for June 29th's early access and July 3rd's launch.
Funcom tops Oslo stock exchange, invests heavily in The Secret World
Funcom's future is looking pretty bright according to a report at Views and News from Norway. The site says the development firm behind Anarchy Online, Age of Conan, and The Secret World topped the Oslo stock exchange last year and saw its share price rise by 227%. AoC has "sold well and still generates income for Funcom," says the report, but the real cause for optimism is the positive buzz surrounding The Secret World. Funcom head honcho Trond Arne Aas says that the firm has received "very good feedback" from both testers and journalists, and it's a good thing since the company absorbed a third quarter loss despite its share price increase. "We're investing heavily in The Secret World now, therefore the loss," Aas explained. "But we're hoping for major income after the launch in April."
The Secret World lures half a million potential beta testers into the underworld
Funcom's The Secret World may be about underworld societies waging a "behind the curtains" war against forces of darkness, but the beta signup is anything but secret. Over 500,000 potential testers have signed up on the MMO's website since Funcom opened beta registrations a month ago. Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas says this is bigger than anything the studio has seen to date: "We are thrilled to see the amount of interest The Secret World is generating among gamers and the press, and exceeding half a million beta registrations six months before release is definitely something we are proud of. The gamer interest in The Secret World and the community size for the game is even greater than we experienced with Age of Conan at the same stage of development. We expect the community size to keep on expanding at an ever faster pace in the coming months as we approach open beta and launch." The Secret World is scheduled to launch April 2012 and will be subscription-based with optional microtransactions on top of that.
Age of Conan: Unchained conquers 300,000 new players, doubles revenue in a month
The secret is out and the jig is up: MMO studios have solid evidence that adding a free-to-play option on top of a subscription model is the way to bring in hordes of new players. Age of Conan: Unchained proved this today as Funcom announced the addition of over 300,000 players to its bloody family in the first month of service. Apparently the servers are packed full and Funcom is raking in the moolah, too. The studio announced that servers have quadrupled activity during this time period, and revenues have more then doubled. This is certainly good news for the 2008 title, which is now being supported by a mix of subscription and cash shop options. Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas is pleased as (a) punch: "The launch of the hybrid business model has been very successful so far. The activity levels on the servers are booming with a fourfold increase in players during July, we more than doubled the revenue generated from the game, and we have experienced a positive development in subscriber numbers. This definitely gives us great hope for the game's future." Age of Conan is set to release a movie tie-in update later this month called Savage Coast of Turan to take advantage of the Conan the Barbarian movie coming to theaters on the 18th.
There's a conspiracy afoot: Funcom and EA co-publishing The Secret World
The Secret World went dark a few months ago -- no doubt to hatch nefarious, world-ending plots that involve brain leeches and alien zombies -- so it's good to see Funcom's sinister child poke its head up for some solid news. It turns out that Funcom's been involved in a conspiracy of sorts: The company has signed a pact with EA Partners to co-publish The Secret World. EA Partners is a division of Electronic Arts that co-publishes third-party games such as Crysis and APB's first incarnation. Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas sees this as a way to propel the company's MMO to world domination: "We are tremendously excited to be working with what is undoubtedly the world-leading games publisher for the past decade, and it is also a great testament to the fantastic work of our development team. The experience and the knowledge that Electronic Arts brings to the table will be instrumental in allowing us to realize the full potential of The Secret World." Funcom's had a rocky few years with its finances, which is why some doubted if The Secret World would ever make it to launch. Fortunately, this co-publishing deal seems to ensure that TSW will go the distance with two companies supporting it. We still have no word on the beta or release date, but this is at least a step toward the MMO seeing the light of day -- or the gloom of the night.
Funcom plans a more casual direction for future games
Back in December, we talked a bit about Funcom's new studio SweetRobot, which will be designing games for a much younger market than the Age of Conan crowd. Pets vs. Monsters is the first offering from the studio, with the promise of more to come. Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas took some time to sit down with gameindustry.biz and discuss where the company stands now, and how that has influenced their decision to explore this new opportunity. Of course, Funcom had to employ some cost-cutting measures in 2009: "...it's become almost a default thing for businesses in the last year it seems." Tapping into the vast tween market could be a very lucrative move in the face of those measures -- while their cash reserves are more than comfortable, gaining new subscribers is the way to keep the company moving forward. Make no mistake - the grownup side of Funcom isn't going anywhere. Age of Conan is here to stay and The Secret World is still coming, but Funcom is also giving plenty of attention to their more casual new studio as well. The full interview can be read here.
Funcom to open Montréal studio
Word got out earlier today that Funcom is establishing a new game development studio in Montréal. If your French is up to snuff, you can read all about it on Les Affaires, but Funcom was quick to make an announcement of their expansion plans. According to their official release, the new studio is being established in cooperation with Investissement Québec, with Ole Schreiner as CEO of the Montréal studio. Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas made a statement on Funcom's reasons for establishing a Québec studio: "We are excited about the opportunity that Montréal represents to our company, not only because of the great incentives offered by Québec, but also the authorities' strong commitment to training qualified video games personnel and building a video games cluster in Montréal and Québec."
