It seems that trouble related to Age of Conan is finally catching up with developer and publisher Funcom, which, last year, released the MMO based on the Hyperborian world so vividly brought to life by Arnold “The Governor” Schwarzenegger. There are reports that the company will be forced to cut off 20% of its staff and will need to delay the release of its upcoming project, The Secret World, by at least a few months.

News site E24 is saying that the stock of the company also fell by about 20% after the announcement was made. All seemed right for the company, as it inaugurated a new studio in Montreal where a big part of the team working on The Secret World was relocated.

The company’s troubles probably stem from the 23-million dollar loss for the fiscal fourth quarter, which was mostly due to dropping numbers of players of Age of Conan that launched to much praise but failed to keep its fan base interested.

The Secret World is set to be a MMO project aiming to do things a little differently. There will be no class-based progression in the game with players being free to pick and choose all the skills they are interested in and progress in them regardless of limitations.

The MMO is telling a story of how the supernatural can infiltrate the real world and how secret societies, like The Dragon, The Illuminati and the Templars are working, sometimes one against another, to fight back the various monsters, which seem to be taken from all the mythologies of the world.

It is not clear how long The Secret World could be pushed back because of the layoffs at Funcom but given the potential the MMO is showing, players are probably hoping that it will be released in 2010.