Funcom: Difference between revisions
Zionnomonus (talk | contribs) →Developed games: Added a note to Age of Conan: The godslayer, re added CMX |
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| ''No Escape'' || 2000 || [[Shooter game|Shooter]] || [[Personal computer|PC]] || |
| ''No Escape'' || 2000 || [[Shooter game|Shooter]] || [[Personal computer|PC]] || |
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| ''CMX'' || 1999 || |
| ''CMX'' || 1999 || [[Racing video game|Racing]] || PlayStation || Developed by Funcom Dublin |
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| ''[[The Longest Journey]]'' || 1999 || [[Adventure game|Adventure]] || [[Personal computer|PC]] || |
| ''[[The Longest Journey]]'' || 1999 || [[Adventure game|Adventure]] || [[Personal computer|PC]] || |
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Revision as of 09:33, 28 December 2012
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| OSE: FUNCOM | |
| Industry | Interactive entertainment Computer and video games |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
Key people | Ole Schreiner (CEO) |
| Products | The Longest Journey Anarchy Online Age of Conan Dreamfall The Secret World |
| Revenue | US$20.062 million (FY 2010) |
 US$0.593 million (FY 2010) | |
| US$5.819 million (Q2 2008) | |
Number of employees | 282 |
| Website | www.funcom.com |
Funcom Productions A/S (OSE: FUNCOM) is a Norwegian video game developer specializing in online games. It is best known for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) titles Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, and its The Longest Journey series of adventure games. In addition to their Oslo headquarters, Funcom has offices in the United States, China, Switzerland, and Canada.[1]
History
Founded in 1993 by Erik Gloersen, Ian Neil, Andre Backen, Gaute Godager and Olav Mørkrid, the company is one of the leading European independent game developers and publishers.[citation needed] They focus mainly on PC games but have also released games on other consoles such as Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Super NES, Sega Saturn and Xbox.
In December 2005, Funcom was the first Norwegian game developer to be listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
On March 14, 2007, the company abandoned traditional "offline" product distribution (e.g. on optical discs) in favor of digital distribution completely. The main reason for this decision was admittedly the financial losses due to software piracy.[2]
On August 21, 2008, Funcom laid off half of its Customer Service department located in Durham, North Carolina. On November 22, 2008, third parties reported that Funcom fired additional 70% of the staff in their US workforce, possibly endangering future releases.[3]
On September 17, 2008, Gaute Godager left Funcom, stating he was dissatisfied with certain elements of Age of Conan, which he directed.[4] Craig Morrison took over the direction of Age of Conan.
On February 23, 2009, Funcom reported financial losses of approximately $23 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. The unsuccessful launch of Age of Conan was cited as the reason for such steep decline. The chief analyst of DnB NOR, Fredrik Thoresen, estimated that 100,000 subscribers played the game at the time of the report, far below the publisher's expectations, though these numbers were not confirmed by Funcom itself.[5]
On September 1, 2009, Funcom announced the establishment of a new development studio in Montreal, Canada. The new studio has worked on Funcom's two MMORPG projects: The Secret World and the Age of Conan expansion pack Rise of the Godslayer.[1]
On September 29, 2009, Funcom announced a reduction of 20% of its staff, resulting in "significant delay" for the release of The Secret World.[6]
All the perceived actions have been reflected in the 2010 Annual Financial Report. The current amount of employees is 282 (19% reduction to 2009). As the result of the new strategy the operating results came close to the positive value - in 2010 it reached -USD $593 thousand comparing to -USD $10 798 thousand in 2009.[7]
On July 2, 2012 Funcom announced Ole Schreiner as the new CEO of Funcom and as a new member of the Management Board of Funcom. Ole Schreiner comes from the position of COO of the Company, a role he has held with great success for several years. Ole Schreiner is one of Funcom's longest-serving employees and he has been working directly with titles such as Anarchy Online, Age of Conan and The Secret World in several capacities. Trond Arne Aas, long term CEO of Funcom, takes on a new role as Strategic Advisor to the Board and Chief Strategy Officer,[8]
On August 22, 2012 Funcom announced that it layed off half of the company as a cost-adjustment initiative due to the poor performance of their MMORPG The Secret World. Some of the lay-offs were temporary. They blamed this poor performance on the Metacritic score of the game and the launch of competing titles like Diablo 3.[9]
Portfolio
The Longest Journey was produced by Ragnar Tørnquist and was very well received both by critics and users. The game was published in 8 languages: English, Norwegian, French, Dutch, Swedish, Polish, Russian and Spanish. The game was also released in other countries, but mainly in English-speaking ones.
Anarchy Online is a critically acclaimed online game, more specifically a MMORPG, with 20 international awards. Funcom issued several expansions; The Notum Wars, Shadowlands, Alien Invasion, Lost Eden and Legacy of The Xan. Founder Gaute Godager was the first Game Director, before Marius Enge released Alien Invasion and took over at the release of Shadowlands. However, shortly after the release of Alien Invasion, Morten Byom took over. Later, near the release of the Lost Eden expansion, Byom moved on to the Age of Conan team, and was succeeded as Game Director by Craig Morrison, also known as "Silirrion". Following the game, a book about the pre-history of the planet and a CD with music from the game were released.
In the spring of 2006, the company released the sequel to The Longest Journey for the Xbox and PC, entitled Dreamfall.
Funcom has also developed an online action role-playing video game for PC and console entitled Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. This product utilizes the Conan the Cimmerian franchise license. The PC version of this game was released on May 20, 2008, and the Xbox 360 version was cancelled. As of 2011, the subscription model of the game has been altered to a hybrid one game is marketed as Age of Conan: Unchained. Funcom released an expansion pack for the game called Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer.
The development of their next MMO called The Secret World was announced on May 11, 2007.[10] The game was released on July 3, 2012.
Developed games
Published games
| Title | Release | Genre | Platforms | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloodline Champions | 2011 | Action | PC | Developed by Stunlock Studios |
References
- ^ a b "Funcom establishes new development studio in Montréal". Funcom. 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ Hagerup, Eivind (2007-03-14). "Funcom drops "offline" PC games". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
- ^ "Funcom Fires 70% of Their U.S. Staff This Morning". TenTonHammer.com. 2008-11-22. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
- ^ Purchese, Rob (2008-09-17). "Age of Conan director leaves Funcom". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
- ^ Tor Øyvind Andersen, Sindre Heyerdahl (2009-02-23). "4. KVARTAL: Blodrødt for Funcom" (in Norwegian). E24 Næringsliv. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ "Secret World gets significant delay as Funcom drops 20% of staff". VG247. 2009-09-29. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
- ^ "2010 Annual Financial Report". Funcom. 2011-04-30. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
- ^ "Funcom N.V. announces Ole Schreiner as new CEO for the company". Funcom. 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ Reilly, Jim (2012-08-22). "Funcom Lays Off Half The Company". Game Informer. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
- ^ "The Secret World Revealed". IGN. 2007-05-11. Retrieved 2011-08-26.