Letter from the editor: In performing the regular sweep of unused drafts (and there are plenty of them) on the MMO Fallout database, I realized that this report for Funcom’s Q4 finances never published. The article was scheduled to publish on March 1st, the same day that Funcom published their own finances, but for some reason unknown to myself, it was never automatically published. That said, it was my responsibility to ensure that the article was published, and in that regard I apologize.
Funcom has released their Q4 financial documents for 2012, and there is quite a bit to behold. In the fourth quarter, The Secret World saw its transformation into a buy to play game, increasing sales by 30% overall and quadrupling in-game activity. Revenue in the fourth quarter came to $7.7 million USD, a quarterly loss from previous quarter’s $10.9 million while still a major increase over the fourth quarter of 2011. Funcom’s major source of revenue continues to be The Secret World and Age of Conan, and while player numbers in The Secret World skyrocketed, numbers in Age of Conan and Anarchy Online have been fairly stable.
A positive cash flow has allowed Funcom to repay borrowings amounting to $7 million USD, and continue the restructuring of the developer which began in 2012. Funcom expects to finalize the restructuring by the end of April.
Q4 2012 saw the discontinuation of service for Bloodline Champions in Russia. Work on Funcom’s upcoming LEGO Minifigures MMO is going well, with all milestones reached and the game on schedule for release in the first half of 2014. The Oslo based team is working on bosses and encounters, as well as work on backend systems and a tablet version of Minifigures. Funcom’s Montreal Studio is also working on mobile and tablet games, small projects with development times of 1-24 months. The Secret World has become one of the best selling titles on Steam since its transition to buy to play.
MMO Fallout 