An 89-page document has been power-slammed onto the Internet, it’s Funcom’s Annual Report and could replace the sleeping pill industry.
Revealed inside its deep recesses are plans for a third free-to-play game, a pat on the back for Conan pre-selling like hotcakes and hopes the MMO will take off again in the next 6-9 months.
Here’s a summary list, courtesy of brave souls over at VE3D:
- Age of Conan pre-sold more than any original PC game launch in history, with 1.2 million copies of the game shipped to retailers.
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Anarchy Online will celebrate its eight year anniversary in June 2009.
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A new Game Director for Anarchy Online was appointed, and his team spearheaded the development of the new booster pack, Legacy of Xan.
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By the end of 2008 over 300 full-time employees were working with Funcom, located in offices in Switzerland, Norway, USA and China.
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Some operations were scaled back after the launch of Age of Conan, including Customer Service and Quality Assurance, while other teams saw growth, most notably in China.
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In 2008 Funcom started development of two Free-To-Play MMOs, with continued development on The Secret World and Anarchy Online.
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In addition to developing two F2P MMOs, Funcom has begun the research phase on a third.
-Funcom aims to emerge as a leading independent developer of F2P games.
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Funcom continues to invest in Age of Conan and expect the next 6-9 months to show whether they can once again enter a growth phase with the game.
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Funcom’s next large scale MMO, The Secret World, has started PR.
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Free-To-Play MMOs in beta testing.
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Funcom continues to develop their DreamWorld Engine, and have about 30 programmers working on it.
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In 2008 Funcom sold its interest in Plutolife, which concluded its involvement in the mobile gaming sector.
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In January and February 2009 the Group launched localized versions of Age of Conan in Poland and Russia with positive gamer and press reception.
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On February 23, 2009 Olav Sandnes gave notice of resignation as CFO. Mr. Sandnes left the company to take up a new position in a different industry.
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On March 5, 2009 options to acquire shares were granted to key personnel in Funcom.
Still awake? Good, then you can read my witty and cutting remark. Oh, actually, I don’t have one. Sorry about that. If you’re feeling a little crazy though then click here to read the FULL Funcom Annual Report 2008.
Bonk!
