Grim Tidings Funcom

[Hellravager]

Kinda sucks XD

http://massivelyop.com/2015/08/10/fu...r-acquisition/

Things are looking a bit grim for The Secret World developer Funcom. According to a new post on the studio’s website, LEGO Minifigures Online has not proven to be a financial savior that was hoped and Funcom is now looking for investors or even another company to take it over.

The statement reads as follows:

* "Following the completion and launch of the LEGO Minifigures Online game, and based on the situation described in the stock notice from Funcom issued on 23 July this year, Funcom N.V. (hereafter the “Company”) has retained ABG Sundal Collier to undertake a broad review of the strategic options available to the Company. The Company is actively seeking interested parties for discussions surrounding a possible investment, acquisition, merger, or any other available options."

Funcom will update the market about the outcome of the review and potential other developments in due course.

[Kelimbror]

That sucks b/c TSW is a fantastic little game and I still haven't had time to catch up on it.

[unfilteredJW]

I love TSW but I stopped playing because the launcher just never wanted to work well. It's tough when you want to hop on and play and it takes 30-45mins each time to start the game up. I've tried various fixes and just never had any luck.

Sad to hear. I know people have quite the animosity for this company but the time I spent in TSW was some of the best.

[Fencers]

Funcom needs some goddamned QA staff, or something.

They piss me off because they seem to make games with really good foundations in terms of concepts, settings, gameplay, ideas...but then the actual development of the games is awful.

This, so accurately. Always full of potential, bad execution.

[Edge-]

Hell, look at Age of Conan. That's actually a really fucking good game in a lot of ways. But it feels like they let some random dude from the janitorial staff write the actual code.

Eh, the biggest problem was that they dumped half their money into the starting experience and then realized they had to make a big MMO and the rest of the game was mostly barren at launch. Folks went from the incredible starting experience on that island (forget the name) and a decent first zone or two to zones that felt like they were thrown together in a matter of days. Which is a damn shame, because AoC still has probably the most interesting combat system in MMO's on the market. I really want to find time to jump into it again some day.

As to the news as a whole though...damn if it's disappointing but not surprising. They haven't been doing well for years now, and to nobodies surprise, the Lego game isn't the smash hit they were apparently hoping for. Feels like TSW launch all over again, where it saw a successful launch for a niche title but they had wild expectations for it (500k+ sales and subs or 1M sales with 3-400k subs) that were in no way grounded in reality. Honestly, I don't even get why they decided to make an ARPG based on Lego, doesn't really make much sense.

I'm hoping they can turn things around or get picked up by someone who can float them until they can figure their shit out. Have a lifetime sub for TSW that while I don't regret purchasing, I'd rather not see go poof so soon. I guess this will be some motivation to dump time back into the game in the super duper off-chance things take a bigger turn for the worse.

[Edge-]

Well, the "barren-ness" didn't really even start until you were level 40 or so. But the buggy, broken, screwed-up, half-assed and generally borked stuff started pretty much right off the bat.

Yeah, their engine was awful, wish they would have just licensed one. Glad they got it mostly sorted (though performance was still trash) by the time TSW launched, but AoC had tons of bugs and massive performance issues. Still better than Vanguard, though : P

[Wilian]

Yeah, AoC definately was one of the biggest disappointments I've faced in MMO scene. Not because of some "look at these couple features we bloatedly market to hide it's just standard run of the mill MMO in veins of WoW" but because it was really unique in many ways and rather than be just another failed WoW 2, it tried to do it's own thing and even succeeded in places where the game was finished.

Sadly the game was finished severely unfinished in the end, to the point where even the stats on items didn't work for ages even after launch.

It also suffered from some heavy optimization issues. Hell, 8800GTX which was the beast at time didn't manage to run it in any solid fashion >.<

[Lord Havik]

Better if they simply die and fade into obscurity, than let some slavering video-game hive-mind like Activision or EA assimilate them and then churn out mass produced The Secret World titles with paint-by-numbers development and a freemium model.

[Wilian]

Better if they simply die and fade into obscurity, than let some slavering video-game hive-mind like Activision or EA assimilate them and then churn out mass produced The Secret World titles with paint-by-numbers development and a freemium model.

You do know that in case of bankruptcy their IPs and rights will be sold at auction right?

[MannyBerry]

I was totally sold on Age of Conan when it first came out. Their PR for it was great.

Then I watched it all burn to the ground. Boobies were nice, though.

[Lord Havik]

You do know that in case of bankruptcy their IPs and rights will be sold at auction right?

I do. But at least then it will be out of the hands of Funcom.

Better to fade out with dignity (as much as you can have while going bankrupt) than become a part of the problem.

[Edge-]

I do. But at least then it will be out of the hands of Funcom.

I can't think of any other studio I'd want working on TSW, to be honest. I don't think any other studio has the chops to work on that game from a writing perspective.

Better to fade out with dignity (as much as you can have while going bankrupt) than become a part of the problem.

I'd rather those games at least be put in maintenance mode so that folks can still enjoy them. I may be strange, but I don't like to see games shut down (except Wizardry Online, fuck that game so hard).

[Sj]

I still have friends in the company and it bums me out that Funcom is in this situation. There were some great creative minds there, but as Fencers said, the execution was always very lacking.

[Nirawen]

Guess I'd better get back to working my way through TSW just incase, don't want my succulent teat of story telling to be pulled away before I've had my fill.

[axell]

god dammit I've just reinstalled AoC and I still have yet to play TSW except for a few hours. I really feel bad for AoC. I mean that game's setting is incredible. The combat is interesting, the overall world design is probably the best i've seen in any MMO. As someone above said, you really do feel like you are adventuring in a savage, primal world and not a lot of games these days give you that feeling. Really hope they find someone to buy them.

[Razael]

As a lover of TSW, i'm most displeased with this. I hope they can make it through without compromising the games they have.

[Hellravager]

More info
http://massivelyop.com/2015/10/12/fu...company-debts/

As we’ve reported previously, Funcom’s financials aren’t in the best of shape, and as of this morning, the company is appealing to its bondholders to lend a hand in keeping the studio running.

The studio has summoned its bondholders to a meeting on October 26th in which they will vote on a proposal to reduce the conversion rate of each bond and extend the bonds’ maturity date for a year, giving Funcom more time to pay its debts. “The proposed amendments are intended to provide cash relief to Funcom N.V. in 2015 to allow for sufficient working capital,” the summons stated.

Funcom’s stocks have slid sharply in the wake of this news. You can read the relevant quote from the bondholders’ meeting summons after the break.

The bondholders’ meeting will be held on 26 October 2015 to vote for the following proposed amendments to the bond agreement as amended from time to time (as described in more detail in the attached summons letter):

(i) extension of the Maturity Date from 22 December 2015 to 15 December 2016;

(ii) adjustment of the Conversion Price from USD 0.37 per Share to USD 0.24 per Share;

(iii) introduction of a “Prepayment Option”, giving Funcom – under certain conditions – the possibility to redeem (all or a part of) the loans outstanding under the bond agreement.

As announced by Funcom N.V. on 13 May 2015 the proposed amendments are intended to provide cash relief to Funcom N.V. in 2015 to allow for sufficient working capital.

[Acidbaron]

I believe they will be fine, the state won't let them fall under. This might make it troublesome to get future investments for new projects but current games will be at the very least supported since both AoC and TSW are profitable on their own, not sure about AO.

[ParanoiD84]

Loved the classes and raids in age of conan, a damn shame it was a mess.

[Doombringer]

Loved AoC and my Herald of Xotli. It was a great experience at launch... new combat system, grimdark world, and a really fun class (I imagine at least a few of the classes were fun for others, too). I was really disappointed to see how the game fell off after the starter island. And the bugs... ugh.