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[hamchan]

How is this EA's fault?

No marketing seems to be a trend for EA partner games. They're partly to blame.

 

[vaelic]

I have a Lifetime for The Secret World, and I couldn't be happier about that game. It's truly awesome, I sincerely hope this doesn't mean the game will go down.

The atmosphere, voice acting, story... Top notch.

The music is really good too.

Paying for a lifetime sub in any mmo is stupid.

 

[CaLe]

Paying for a lifetime sub in any mmo is stupid.

Opinions, we all have one

It's the only game i'm playing, and I'm enjoying it. I also work full time. I guess that means I can.. *gasp*, do what I want with my money and encourage them?

 

[derFeef]

I have lifetime, too

The curse of the tone-deaf WoW clone industry.

Yeah try again and speak of things you know a thing of or two.

 

[zethren]

MMOs, man. Probably the trickiest, and definitely riskiest, market to penetrate successfully. Really a shame as it's never fun to hear about people losing their jobs like this.

Man you guys are classy.

This is really a shitty day.
PopCap
Funcom
Nintendo Power going away...

Wha-wha-what? What's going on with PopCap?

 

[Pixels]

Glad I didn't move to Norway.

 

[tborsje]

Only option: Dreamfall 2 kickstarter. STAT!

YES.

Fuck MMOs.

 

[Polk]

No marketing seems to be a trend for EA partner games. They're partly to blame.

Did you see contracts between EA and companies to see what EA agreed to do on top of pressing the discs and putting them in stores?

 

[RaffAO]

Yeah try again and speak of things you know a thing of or two.

^
Hence the tone-deaf part...

The differences between TSW, AOC and all other recent big budget MMOs are utterly frivolous. The way MMORPG mechanics and interactions are so ingrained into an incredibly specific template so as to define the entire genre in most people's eyes is the reason these games keep getting made like this and keep failing. The failure is being blamed on the subscription model and the production values, rather than this inherently problematic framework. The knock on effect is that a well funded and supported dynamic player-driven MMORPG without a tacky free to play layer will probably never happen again.

Funcom was a really cool company 10 years ago (and still is in some ways today) but has been increasingly marginalizing their strengths ever since.

I really hope they're not firing a bunch of people who they just relocated from Norway to Canada, when it was so obvious that TSW was not going to live up to its years out of date expectations.

 

[derFeef]

Official statement: Man, really that much

As mentioned in the stock notice of 10 August 2012, Funcom has initiated a process to reduce operational costs following the launch of its most recent massively multiplayer online game 'The Secret World'. The process includes several initiatives such as layoffs and temporary layoffs of some employees in Montreal, Durham, Oslo and Beijing.

Some of these initiatives are part of normal procedure following the launch of a major project, such as adjustments to the customer service staffing based on the number of customers in the game as well as adjustments to the production team as the project goes into a post-launch phase following years of intense development. Many of those affected on the customer service team are on temporary contracts which is common for a live service such as 'The Secret World' where customer service demand shifts based on the game's population levels.

Around half of the company's personnel have been affected, with some departments being more affected than others. To make sure Funcom is in the best possible position to realize its plans for both existing games as well as future projects, the company is focusing on retaining as many as possible on the production teams.

For more information about Funcom and its portfolio of games, please visit www.funcom.com.

Badhoevedorp, The Netherlands, 22 August 2012
Funcom

http://www.funcom.com/news/funcom_reduces_operational_costs_following_the_secret_world_launch

 

[vaelic]

Opinions, we all have one

It's the only game i'm playing, and I'm enjoying it. I also work full time. I guess that means I can.. *gasp*, do what I want with my money and encourage them?

you're not getting it...

 

[Pooya]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/the-secret-world-sells-200000-6393715

the game sold 200k (shipped?) below expectations

Funcom said the launch of The Secret World was not hampered by technical issues or difficulties, but rather reviews and news about competing games. The firm acknowledged that reviews for The Secret World were mixed, noting that the poor critiques "impacted sales of the game significantly."

and

Looking forward, Funcom said it will direct its resources towards "smaller, more focused online games." The company said these "systems-driven" games require less time and development cost to bring to market.

 

[michaelius]

Another company caught into MMOs are pure cash guys let's make another one trap.

 

[sflufan]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/the-secret-world-sells-200000-6393715the game sold 200k (shipped?) below expectations

Because it's an online game, you can pretty much be assured that's a sold (rather than shipped) figure.

 

[derFeef]

Another company caught into MMOs are pure cash guys let's make another one trap.

Except Funcom is a MMO dev since ever and laid some groundwork for current gen games with AO.

 

[doubleplusgood]

Semi related if it hasn't been posted yet, but key people in Funcom is being investigated(link in norwegian) for possible insider trading.