November 17, 2009 – MMO Fallout

If Funcom's money was gold-backed... — If Funcom's money was gold backed.

It has certainly not been a good few months for Funcom, and according to the company, the situation is expected to get worse. After September’s notice of layoffs of 20% of the company’s workforce, we received further news that the upcoming MMO, The Secret World, would also be delayed by at least several months. Age of Conan and Anarchy Online are allegedly unaffected by the downsizing.

Age of Conan, alongside several other titles, is in the middle of a furious campaign to gain long term subscribers to their title (Because, as I say time and time again, it’s all about retention rate), bringing in heavy discounts for multi-month packages, veteran rewards, and more. Age of Conan has an expansion pack in the works, while Anarchy Online has its major graphics upgrade.

More after the break…

Continue reading “Funcom: Revenue, Outsourcing, and More Dissappointment…”

HolyGrail004 (1) — I don't want to go on the cart

Stargate Worlds is akin to the Duke Nukem Forever of the MMO world. Under approximately eight lawsuits currently, ranging from not paying employees to angry investors, to allegations of a ponzi scheme, the development of the oft-delayed Stargate Worlds can regularly be seen trudging along in a direct path towards nowhere.

Looking through my own archives, all of the news on MMO Fallout related to Stargate Worlds follows a similar point: A frantic, arm waving “We’re not dead yet!” directly removed from one of the early scenes in Monty Python’s Holy Grail movie. Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment had this to say recently:

Continue reading “Stargate Worlds: I Don’t Want To Go On The Cart…”