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Funcom secures $1.6 million in additional equity
Funcom's website has published news of a move that gives the firm $1.6 million of additional equity as it prepares to launch LEGO Minifigures Online. In May of 2012, Funcom reached an agreement with US fund manager Yorkville Advisors and is now partially exercising the resulting option. "We are very pleased to have increased the company's financial flexibility with funds that will be used in preparing for the launch of LEGO Minifigures Online," explained CEO Ole Schreiner explained in a prepared statement. "We have several times expressed a need for additional equity and have considered different alternatives to secure this. This facility has been available to us since 2012, but the timing has not been right before."
Chaos Theory: Funcom flubbed it with The Secret World's mankinigate
I'd rather be focused on the four new investigation missions that just launched in The Secret World, even though I need much more time to complete them all, or yammering on about Tokyo coming next month (did you catch that in the director's letter?). But as the fates would have it, Funcom did something else this past week that has nabbed attention and necessitates a little scrutiny. Mankinigate. Last week during the notable first of April shenanigans, The Secret World poked fun at the fact that female outfits in games (including TSW) are stereotypically skimpy while males get adventuring gear. The item store offered the "Gender Equality" clothing pack: full scuba gear for females and a mankini for males. As hideous as I think the mankini is, I appreciated this obvious jab at stereotypes, not to mention the fact that Funcom listened to players who've requested revealing attire for their male avatars. But then with no real explanation given at the time, the makinis were yanked not only from the store but from players' inventories as well.
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."
Funcom is ready to take The Secret World F2P if need be
Funcom's new CEO is tackling tough questions about the future of The Secret World, saying that the studio is prepared to take the title free-to-play -- if need be. In an interview with GamesIndustry, Ole Schreiner said that TSW was developed to be subscription-based with the options to change the model down the road. "We tried leaving our options open during development so that we could launch with a different model should we have decided during development that's what we wanted, but eventually we did settle on the subscription model and that's what informed much of the game's design," Schreiner said. "That said we definitely have the tools to turn The Secret World into a free-to-play game -- or even hybrid -- should we decide to do that somewhere down the line." Schreiner admitted that it's become difficult for subscription titles to thrive in a F2P-dominated field. He added that The Secret World is now a "profitable operation" following the studio's restructuring: "Despite the obvious challenges, I definitely think we're heading into a promising future for Funcom."
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.
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."
