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The Secret World Underperforms, Funcom Refocuses
Developer Funcom said initial sales of its new MMO, The Secret World, totaled 200,000 units, about half of what the company expected.
One of the reasons for the poor sales, Funcom said, was due to low press scores. "Press feedback on The Secret World have been mixed, with some major press outlets in the US having rated the game as low as 50%, which have impacted sales of the game significantly."
According to financial reports, Funcom says it will now focus creating games with smaller development cycles and higher player interaction, such as League of Legends, World of Tanks and Minecraft. "Funcom will concentrate it’s new development on more focused, systems-driven games that have a high degree of community and player interaction. These games require less time and development cost to bring to market."
Funcom recently announced plans to lay off about half of the developer's 250 employees.
[Source: Funcom]
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