Funcom

Funcom Oslo AS
File:Funcom.png
Founders	Erik Gloersen Tyr Neilsen Andre Backen Gaute Godager (left in 2008) Olav Mørkrid
Founded	1993
Headquarters	Oslo, Norway
Key People	Rui Casais (CEO)
Products	Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, Secret World Legends, Conan Exiles, Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, The Park, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, The Longest Journey, Hide and Shriek
Website	https://funcom.com/

“	Make great games and have a damn good time doing it.	„
	~ About Us

Funcom is a video game developer and publisher and is home to most of the Conan Exiles team.

Located in Oslo, Norway, Funcom currently has 165 employees from more than 25 different nationalities. It is listed as Funcom SE on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: Funcom) since 2005 and it is backed by Northzone Ventures, Stelt Holding and Teknoinvest.

Description

“	Funcom is a world-leading independent developer and publisher of PC and console games. Funcom was founded in 1993 and has since then developed and published over 25 game titles across several genres and gaming platforms. Most notable of these are the online games 'Conan Exiles', 'The Secret World', 'Age of Conan' and 'Anarchy Online', as well as the adventure game 'The Longest Journey'.	„
	~ PR: Short description

History

Funcom was founded by Erik Gloersen, Tyr Neilsen, Andre Backen, Gaute Godager and Olav Mørkrid in 1993 as an independent video game developer. Its original name was Funcom Productions AS..

Rui Casais joined the company as a junior AI programmer in 2004 and was named its CEO in 2015.

At its peak in 2008, Funcom had around 680 employees spread across offices all over the world.

1993-2018

1993

Funcom (Funcom Productions AS) is founded. It starts with five employees.

1993-1996

• 1994: Funcom B.V. and Funcom Dublin Ltd. founded.
• 1995: Funcom Productions AS changed name to Funcom Oslo AS.
• In the early years of Funcom, they were mostly making games for other major entertainment corporations. Games were made for the SNES, SEGA Genesis, PlayStation, and many more. Games include:
  • Nightmare Circus (SEGA Genesis)
  • Winter Gold (SNES)
  • Casper (Game Boy, PlayStation, SEGA Saturn)
  • Disney's Pocahontas (Game Boy, SEGA Genesis)
  • DragonHeart: Fire & Steel (PlayStation, SEGA Saturn, PC)
  • A Dinosaur's Tale (SEGA Genesis)
  • Daze Before Christmas (SEGA Genesis, SNES)
  • Fatal Fury Special (SEGA CD, SNES, and more)
  • Samurai Shodown (SEGA CD, SNES, and more)
  • NBA Hang Time (SEGA Genesis, N64, PlayStation, SNES, PC)

1999

• The Longest Journey
• Speed Freaks (original PlayStation), Europe

2000

• Speed Freaks (original Playstation), North America
• No Escape

2001

• Anarchy Online

2005

In December 2005, Funcom NV (now Funcom SE), the Dutch mother company of Funcom Oslo, becomes a publicly traded company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE).

• Naturally this had significant impact on the company's structure and way of business, and also opened up new opportunities for financing.
• An updated logo is released.

2006

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (PC and Xbox)

2007

“

Before Dreamfall had come to the stores, over 200,000 had downloaded it illegally. For each game sold, it is estimated to be between 3 and 10 times as many. Obviously, we and others in the industry are losing huge amounts of money on this.

„

“

We have decided to stop developing offline PC games. Piracy is the main reason for it

„

“	Many players who only rely on offline PC games have had big problems. For example, in France, the game industry is in crisis due to piracy, he says.	„
	~ Funcom boss Trond Arne Aas, in an interview with E24.(Translated)

This interview, held on March 14 explains why Funcom abandoned traditional "offline" product distribution (e.g. on optical discs) in favor of digital distribution completely. The main reason for this decision was claimed to be the financial losses due to software piracy.

2008

• Age of Conan

August 21: Funcom laid off half of its Customer Service department located in Durham, North Carolina.

September 17: Gaute Godager left Funcom, stating he was dissatisfied with certain elements of Age of Conan, which he directed. Craig Morrison took over the direction of Age of Conan.

November 22: Third parties reported that Funcom fired an additional 70% of the staff in their US workforce, possibly endangering future releases.

2009

September: The company announces to open a new development studio in Montreal, Canada (Funcom Games Canada Inc)

2010

The Age of Conan expansion pack Rise of the Godslayer becomes free-to-play.

2011

Age of Conan becomes fully free-to-play.

2012

• The Secret World

2014

On January 29, Norwegian economic crime unit Økokrim launched an investigation into suspected infringement of the provisions of the Securities Trading Act connected to the 2012 launch of The Secret World.

• In 'October, the case against Funcom was closed after the company paid a fine.

On April 24, 2014, the company reported securing NOK 9.7 million (USD 1.6 million) additional equity.

• The additional cash boost helped the company to fully prepare for the launch of the LEGO Minifigures MMO in summer 2014.

• LEGO Minifigures Online (PC, iOS, and Android)

2015

After both The Secret World and LEGO Minifigures Online fail to become the commercial successes Funcom had hoped for, a new, future strategy for Funcom was created.

• In this new strategy, major changes to the company structure, ambitions, way of doing things, priorities and tools were made.

In October, the company launched The Park, a single-player horror experience based on The Secret World intellectual property.

In December, the company announced that it had entered into a partnership agreement with Conan Properties International LLC, making it the preferred partner for PC and console games based on the Conan the Barbarian brand.

2015/2016

Funcom develops two smaller games in both Oslo and North Carolina, aimed at increasing the teams' experience with the Unreal Engine.

• The Park (PC, Xbox, PS4)
• Hide & Shriek (PC)

2017

January 31: Funcom releases the open-world survival game Conan Exiles into Steam Early Access and it immediately becomes a hit for the company, selling half a million units on Steam in the first month.

• August 16, 2017, the game launches into Xbox Game Preview as The Frozen North expansion update is also released.

July 26: Secret World Legends

August 31: Funcom gets a new logo. The new logo, the first logo update in 12 years, represents Funcom's journey that has led them to where they are today.

The first six months of the year were the most profitable ever in the history of the company.

• This was announced on the same day that the Q2 2017 report was released.

2018

May 8: Funcom launches Conan Exiles fully on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

June 22: Conan Exiles' The Imperial East Pack DLC is published alongside Update 32.

August 2: Conan Exiles' Jewel of the West Pack DLC is published alongside Update 33.

August 23: The seperate Japanese PS4 version Conan Outcasts is launched.

October 9: Conan Exiles' The Savage Frontier Pack DLC is published alongside Update 34.

December 12: Conan Exiles' Seekers of the Dawn Pack DLC is published alongside Update 35.

• Funcom reached 15.000 followers on Twitch and 1100 followers on Mixer.

2019

January 8: Acquisition of majority stake in lisbon based game service studio ZPX, which made some of the animations for Conan Exiles.

February 26: Funcom announces three Dune games to be developed with Legendary Entertainment and Herbert Properties LLC.

February 28: Stalker Trials update for Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden.

March 11: Anarchy Online gets a new server.

March 20: Funcom announces Mutant Year Zero coming to Nintendo Switch this summer with DLC expansion and retail release

This information has since changed. See May 23.

March 26: Funcom reveals cosmic horror game Moons of Madness.

April 1st: Conan Chop Chop (See June 10) and the return of the Night of the Lost Souls Conan Exiles event are announced as April Fools jokes.

April 15: Conan Exiles' Treasures of Turan Pack DLC is published alongside Update 36.

May 8: Conan Exiles' 1 Year Anniversary; The Riddle of Steel DLC is published alongside Update 37. Also a Steam free weekend.

May 23: Funcom reveals the Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden Seed of Evil DLC and changes the ETA of the DLC and previously announced retail and Switch edition to July 30.

May 24: Conan Unconquered is announced to release May 29, one day earlier than planned.

May 29: Conan Unconquered releases on Steam.

June 10: Conan Chop Chop is revealed to be a real game during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2019.

July 30: Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden releases for the Switch and in retail. The Seed of Evil DLC releases on all platforms digitally and physically, except digitally for PS4.

August 6: The Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden Seed of Evil DLC releases digitally for the PS4.

August 26: Conan Chop Chop release moved to Q1 2020 to include online multiplayer.

September 3: Conan Exiles' Blood and Sand Pack DLC is published alongside Update 38.

September 27: Funcom announces mounts are coming to Conan Exiles in December 2019, along with mounted combat and pet leveling.

September 30: Tencent to become largest shareholder in Funcom. It has agreed to acquire all shares belonging to the Norway-based KGJ Capital AS, which was previously the largest shareholder.

Studios

Oslo, Norway

Funcom Oslo AS (Formerly Funcom Productions AS) is a subsidiary of Funcom SE, situated in Oslo, Norway. It is the home office of the Conan Exiles studio, where the decisions regarding Conan Exiles are made. 47 Oslo members are on an image of the team.

It also houses Funcom Oslo Licensing AS, lead by Ole Hamran Schreiner, which handles tax administration and the owner company, Funcom B.V..

Durham, North Carolina, USA

Funcom Inc. is located in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina, one of the largest research parks in the world. RTP is home to numerous high-tech companies and enterprises, including several game development studios. Employees at Funcom Inc have easy access to the nearby cities of Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill.​ 48 NC members are portrayed on an image of the team.

It was previously a secondary development studio for Conan Exiles. However, this now takes place in the Oslo office.

Badhoevedorp, The Netherlands

Funcom SE (previously Funcom N.V.) is a company registered in The Netherlands and publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. It is the mother company of Funcom Oslo AS.

The company is subject to Norwegian securities legislation and stock exchange regulations as well as Dutch legislation.

ZPX

ZPX is a portuguese game development company which has contributed to Conan Exiles and Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden and other projects. It will continue to act independently with Funcom, who have a controlling interest, as its main customer.

ZPX' contribution to Conan Exiles includes the production of high and low poly 3D models, textures and the setup of assets and materials on Unreal Engine. The collaboration of the engineering team included help with the debug process, bug fixing and implementation of new features.

Previous offices

Katwijk, The Netherlands

Funcom SE previously had its registered office ("statutaire zetel") here.

On August 30, 2019 it was announced that they would relocate it to the municipality of Oslo, Norway in order to reduce the burden of administrative expenses and achieve a more efficient group structure. It would also be announced in the Dutch newspaper, Trouw, the next week.^{[citation needed]}

Beijing (Peking), China

Funcom Games. Beijing Ltd. served as a representation office.

Dublin, Ireland

Funcom Dublin Ltd. was the former Dublin-based development studio of Funcom Oslo A/S. It was founded in 1994 and all console development for the company was conducted from there since 1996. Initially based in Clonskeagh, they later moved to a larger office in Sandyford.

Many of the early staff was recruited locally, from design courses at the National College of Art and Design in Dun Laoghaire and Ballyfermot PLC. The first title they worked on was Impact Racing (PSX).

In 1998, they struck a deal with Activision to create the motor racer D.I.R.T., but the deal fell through. In 1999, the game was released as Championship Motocross Featuring Ricky Carmichael by THQ.

After the initial focus on the PlayStation, it was announced in July 2000 that the office would now focus on the Xbox platform. The main Funcom company, however, achieved a lot of success with its early online titles, so it started work on a large project, the MMORPG Anarchy Online. Because of the financial risks involved, all attention was focused on the new title and the Dublin office was closed in August 2001. The Xbox game they were working on, Jet Sprint MX, was cancelled.

Games:

• Championship Motocross 2001 Featuring Ricky Carmichael (2001)
• Speed Punks (1999)
• Championship Motocross Featuring Ricky Carmichael (1999)
• Impact Racing (1996)

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Funcom Games Canada Inc. was the development studio for The Secret World and Age of Conan expansion pack Rise of the Godslayer.

Bertrange, Luxembourg

Funcom S.à r.l. or Funcom SARL was a (trading) branch of Funcom. It was fully liquidated in 2016.

Zürich, Switzerland

Funcom GmbH was previously Funcom headquarters. It was fully liquidated in 2016.

Küsnacht, Switzerland

Funcom Sales GmbH was the financial holding of Funcom GmbH. It was fully liquidated in 2016.

SweetRobot

SweetRobot, consisting of Sweet Robot AS and Sweet Robot GmbH (Site - Facebook) was a development studio which worked on^{[citation needed]} or specialized in publishing casual MMO games. It had been making a new game engine and a game titled Pets vs. Monsters, of which a beta version was published on December 16, 2009.

• In 2011 development support for the game seems to have ended.^{[citation needed]}
• The web domain http://www.petsvsmonsters.com has since lost its ownership.
• Funcom's original PR article (December 11, 2009) has since been archived or removed entirely.

Games

Conan Exiles

Main article: Conan Exiles

Other games

List of products

Name	Release	Genre(s)	Device(s)	Notes
Conan Unconquered	2019	PC	Developed by Petroglyph Games.
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden	2018	Turn-based strategy	PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch	Developed by The Bearded Ladies
Conan Exiles	2018	Survival	PC, PS4, Xbox One	Developed by Funcom Oslo
Secret World Legends	2017	MMORPG	PC	Developed by Funcom North Carolina
Hide and Shriek	2016	Multiplayer	PC	Developed by Funcom North Carolina
LEGO Minifigures Online	2015	MMORPG	PC, Android, iOS	Developed by Funcom Oslo
The Park	2015	Adventure	PC, PS4, Xbox One	Developed by Funcom Oslo
The Secret World	2012	MMORPG	PC
Fashion Week Live	2012	Facebook game	Facebook	Fashion based social game
Pets vs. Monsters	2012	MMORPG	PC, Mac OS X
Bloodline Champions	2011	?	?
Age of Conan: Unchained	2008	MMORPG	PC
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey	2006	Adventure	PC, Xbox
Anarchy Online	2001	MMORPG	PC
No Escape	2000	Shooter	PC
Speed Freaks	1999	Racing	PlayStation	Developed by Funcom Dublin
The Longest Journey	1999	Adventure	PC
CMX	1999	Racing	PlayStation	Developed by Funcom Dublin
NBA Hangtime	1997	Sports	Mega Drive/Genesis
Disney's Pocahontas	1996	Adventure	Mega Drive/Genesis
Nightmare Circus	1996	Action	Mega Drive/Genesis
Winter Gold	1996	Sports	SNES
DragonHeart: Fire & Steel	1996	Action	PC, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Impact Racing	1996	Racing	PlayStation, Sega Saturn	Developed by Funcom Dublin
Casper	1996	Puzzle adventure	Sega Saturn
Wikipedia:Fatal Fury Special	1995	Fighting	Mega-CD	Ported by Funcom
Samurai Shodown	1995	Fighting	Mega-CD	Ported by Funcom
A Dinosaur's Tale	1994	Adventure	Mega Drive/Genesis
Daze Before Christmas	1994	Action	Mega Drive/Genesis, SNES
World Heroes CD	Cancelled	Fighting	Mega-CD
Midgard	Cancelled	MMORPG	PC

In the pipeline

File:InThePipeline.jpg

There are 12 active projects in total, of which 6 are new and 6 are existing or prototype game projects.
Or: 2 are internal, 2 are external and 8 are additional publishing games or activities for existing games, such as SKUs, updates, stores, platforms, etc.

Apart from the below, the following is being thought about:

• An Anarchy Online IP game.
• Publishing and/or developing games on the Nintendo Switch.

These games are currently in development; read as: Name (Device) - release ETA (developer)

External

Externally developed games.

• Moons of Madness (PC, PS4, Xbox), PC: October 22, 2019 / PS4, Xbox: January 21, 2020 - In Production by RocketPocket Games.

Site - Trailer

Moons of Madness has an ARG surrounding it called Cyrano Story. (Site - Discord - Game Detectives)

---

• Conan Chop Chop (PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One), Q1 2020 - In Production by Mighty Kingdom.

Originally planned for September 3, 2019 it announced the addition of Online Multi-player on August 26, 2019 and delayed its launch.

This game was revealed at E3 2019 during the PC Gaming Show.

---

• Untitled (External) (?), TBA - ?

This game is unannounced.

---

• Untitled (External) (?), TBA - ?

This game is unannounced.

---

• Untitled (External) (?), TBA - In Concept by The Outsiders (Sunhammer AB)
  • PC and consoles.
  • Note: Whether this is one of the already mentioned unannounced titles will become clear at a later point.

Internal

Internally developed games.

• Untitled (Mutant Chronicles) (PC, Xbox One, PS4), 2020 - in Production by Funcom Inc. (NC)
  • Mutant Chronicles IP.
  • Multi-player, 4-player co-op shooter.
  • 'PAYDAY / Left 4 Dead / Vermintide'-like gameplay.
  • Uses the Unreal 4 Engine and will likely use DreamWorld Technology.
  • Sold with a premium, game as a service business model.
  • As of the Q2 2019 financial report, this game continues to have the focus of the US studio. RedEye expects the game to be released in Q3-Q4 2020.

---

• Untitled (Conan) (PC, Xbox One, PS4), 2020 - in Pre-Production by Funcom Oslo AS.
  • Conan IP
  • Single-player.
  • It will likely use the Unreal 4 Engine with DreamWorld Technology.
  • Uses members of the team that did Conan Exiles.
  • You play as Conan. (Think "climbing the Tower of the Elephant", chasing after the Frost Giant's daughter.)
  • As of the Q2 2019 financial report, this game's development is temporarily on hold to focus the developers and management in the Oslo studio on Conan Exiles and Dune.

---

• Untitled (Dune) (PC, Xbox One, PS4), TBA, in Pre-Production by Funcom Oslo AS.
  • Frank Herbert's Dune IP
  • 3 open-world, multi-player games. FPS or similair.
  • Uses the Unreal 4 engine and will likely use DreamWorld Technology.
  • Sold with a premium, game as a service business model.
  • Timeline TBA. RedEye estimates the first game could be published in the second half of 2021.
  • Funcom works closely with Legendary to make sure they capitalize on the opportunities and synergies between the movie and the game and is applying learnings from Conan Exiles.

Ports

Ports to other devices.

• The Park (Nintendo Switch), October 22, 2019.
  • The game has also been localized to French, German, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese and Japanese.

This will be released at the same time for all platforms.

Employees

See also: Credits for people who have worked on Conan Exiles.

Executive Management

Name	Position
Rui Casais   (Bio)	CEO
Ole Schreiner   (Bio)	COO
Stian Drageset   (Bio)	CFO
Erling Ellingsen   (Bio)	VP of PR & Marketing
Lawrence Poe   (Bio)	VP of Digital Products

Management Board

Name	Position
Rui Casais	CEO
Christian Olsthoorm   (Bio)	Managing Director of Funcom N.V.

Supervisory Board

Name	Position
Ole Gladhaug   (Bio)	Chairman
Alain Tascan   (Bio)	Vice-Chairman
Fredrik Malmberg   (Bio)	Member
Egil Kvannli   (Bio)	Member

Careers

Name	Position
Funcom Oslo
Espen Bakken	General Manager - Operations
Laura Domínguez Garcia	HR Generalist
Lawrence Poe	Chief Product Officer
Funcom Inc
Paxton Galvanek	Human Resource Manager - Operations
Scott Junior	Executive Producer
Erik Willis	Associate Technical Producer
Michael McGrath	Senior Software Engineer

Public Relations

Members of the PR team.

Name	Position
Natascha Röösli	PR and Community Director Influencer and PR Contact
Erling Ellingsen	Chief Marketing Officer
Jens Erik Vaaler	Community Manager Streamer Contact
Tor Egil Andersen	Communications Manager
Andy Benditt	Community Manager
Nicole Vayo	Community Manager

Investor Relations

“	As of 1st November 2016 (excluding COO and CFO). The Management Board, the Chief Financial Officer and the Executive Vice President of Business Operations are the Company's spokesmen for contact with the financial markets.	„
	~

Name	Position
Ole Schreiner	COO
Stian Drageset	CFO
Alain Tascan	Chairman Remuneration Committee
Fredrik Malmberg	Member Remuneration Committee
Magnus Grøneng   (Bio)	Chairman Audit Committee
Egil Kvannli	Member Audit Committee

Official links

• Site
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Twitch
• Mixer
• Periscope

External links

• Funcom - Wikipedia

Media

• 
• Work with Funcom.jpg