14 DAY TRIAL // Developer Funcom has been forced to lay off a number of its staff members following worse than expected sales of the recently launched MMO The Secret World and recent messages have confirmed that even the leading designer working on the game has been let go from the company.
Martin Bruusgaard has stated via Twitter that, “Unfortunately, I’m not with Funcom anymore”, before adding that, “Got put on forced leave along with most of our Oslo Office, a week ago.”
Funcom was forced to fire about half of its overall staff and Martin Bruusgaard says that the team he was part of was one of the worst hit.
He added, “I think that 50% was an overall Funcom percentage. The Oslo office got hit much much harder. It’s a very expensive office. Cheaper to hire someone abroad.”
The former lead designer has said that he has found another IT position in Oslo.
Despite the layoffs, the leader of Funcom, Ragnar Tornquist, has assured gamers that the company will continue to offer full support for its MMOs and that all of them have content drops planned for the next few months.
In The Secret World gamers will soon be able to enjoy Issue #3, which will include balance fixes as well as more options for high level players.
The player base will also get access to a new raid in during October and the developer plans a number of events that will celebrate the real world holiday period in the MMO.
Funcom also has long-term plans for Age of Conan: Unchained, which is now free-to-play, consisting of a huge new desert area that will be introduced in stages.
Expansion plans for Anarchy Online have been put on the backburner, but the team working on the veteran MMO will continue to port the title to a new engine.