http://e24.no/boers-og-finans/article3293731.ece

In Norwegian but says roughly:

- 20% of workforce to be cut to reduce costs, the norwegian office will be affected mostly

- delay in the release of The Secret World

I suppose this goes hand in hand with opening a studio in Montreal and moving a lot of personal from Oslo to Canada, also to reduce the cost.

A minor surprise with them working on a AoC xpac and the secret world. AoC being the massive flop it is though has to be tough and everyone is cutting costs so might just be a normal thing and admin staff or CS staff.

Ding-Dong the Witch is dead...the wicked witch...the wicked witch....

Ding-Dong the wicked witch is dead!

I kid...I kid....

She isn't really dead....but she lost an arm.

and if she doesn't start playing her cards right..it will be her on a stake in front of a bunch of angry villagers.

Shortly followed by....

 A Viking Funeral.. (OH my ..how Ironic)

anyways where was I...oh yes

Ding-Dong the witch is dead...the wicked witch.....the wicked witch..

If you read the *whole* article, you will find at the bottom:

"Funcom plans to hire 100 to 150 people in Canada over the next 18 months."
 

20% of 300 is 60 people laid off, which means 240 employees after. Then adding 100-150 people, the amount of employees goes up to 340-390, which is higher than the original 300. I know this is pretty difficult arithmetics...

According to the article they will reduce the crew by 20%, and they are around 300 people working with funcom worldwide now according to the article. They will also move a lot of the production out of norway since Norway isn't a low cost country to produce anything in. The interesting bit is that the Montreal studio will hire about 100-150 employee's over the coming 18 months. A lot of the Norwegian work force have been asked to join that studio also so seems like they will focus the main part of developing from there in the future.

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

Yes the press release about Montreal said that Funcom was planning to hire up to 150 people in the canadian studio. However they are also trying to get a lot of people from the Oslo office to relocate to Canada - and i think that might well be included in that number.

But even if not, 18 months is a long time, and plans are just that - plans, not guarantees. In the meantime however Funcom is aiming to reduce costs - significantly. And that includes redundancies.

It does not mean the company is going under at all, and i did not post the news to gloat or fan the flames - it's just a piece of news regarding the developer of an active MMO and one that's in production and highly anticipated.

We can only wait and see what impact this will truely have on TSW and also if Funcom really hire 150 new people in Montreal.

The delay of the game Secret World is really going to suck.   Funcom should cut it's losses and turn AoC into a f2p game with a cash shop, cut the work force on it and delay the expansion so they can concentrate on their new IP.    Why?  Because Funcom has all ready shot themselves in the foot with AoC and nothing they do will revive it as it is now.    You've got one chance in the MMMORPG business(these days) and if you blow it...there is no way to recover.  F2P maybe the way to save AoC and make it more profitable.

Funcom was creating a new IP and a totally new game and that is the only thing that could possibly save them - if they would really put some serious heart and soul into the game - and money.  ^_^

Originally posted by Teala

The delay of the game Secret World is really going to suck.   Funcom should cut it's losses and turn AoC into a f2p game with a cash shop, cut the work force on it and delay the expansion so they can concentrate on their new IP.    Why?  Because Funcom has all ready shot themselves in the foot with AoC and nothing they do will revive it as it is now.    You've got one chance in the MMMORPG business(these days) and if you blow it...there is no way to recover.  F2P maybe the way to save AoC and make it more profitable.

Funcom was creating a new IP and a totally new game and that is the only thing that could possibly save them - if they would really put some serious heart and soul into the game - and money.  ^_^

Nonsense. They could completely cancel TSW and still be fine. The company's continued survival isn't contingent on reviving AOC. In fact they could close AOC today and cancel TSW and still survive it.  It's just business they're doing what they think best to maximize their profits.
 

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

I agree it's not dead.

I can't agree this isn't a part of the "death dance," because I'm sure you'd agree that these are not signs of a healthy functional company.

There will be certain events or actions you'd expect a company to take before they claim bankruptcy. Those actions are unfolding before our eyes.

This announcement is just one of a series events we'll hear about leading up to their inevitable fate (like any struggling company).  I suspect if things don't improve, well hear about a couple more rounds of lay-offs and perhaps high rank executives being fired.

It's called downsizing....not good considering they are already a fairly small company.

Don't be surprised if they moved Canada as a preemptive measure against bankruptcy--EG: they may find our laws are more generous towards filing chapter 13 than in Norway. Or some other form of protection...rather than cutting their pay roll.

There is nothing "sunny" to be found in that article.

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

I agree it's not dead.

I can't agree this isn't a part of the "death dance," because I'm sure you'd agree that these are not signs of a healthy functional company.

There will be certain events or actions you'd expect a company to take before they claim bankruptcy. Those actions are unfolding before our eyes.

This announcement is just one of a series events we'll hear about leading up to their inevitable fate (like any struggling company).  I suspect if things don't improve, well hear about a couple more rounds of lay-offs and perhaps high rank executives being fired.

It's called downsizing....not good considering they are already a fairly small company.

Don't be surprised if they moved Canada as a preemptive measure against bankruptcy--EG: they may find our laws are more generous towards filing chapter 13 than in Norway. Or some other form of protection...rather than cutting their pay roll.

There is nothing "sunny" to be found in that article.

Do you even know what causes bankruptcies..?
 

Originally posted by Aercus

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

I agree it's not dead.

I can't agree this isn't a part of the "death dance," because I'm sure you'd agree that these are not signs of a healthy functional company.

There will be certain events or actions you'd expect a company to take before they claim bankruptcy. Those actions are unfolding before our eyes.

This announcement is just one of a series events we'll hear about leading up to their inevitable fate (like any struggling company).  I suspect if things don't improve, well hear about a couple more rounds of lay-offs and perhaps high rank executives being fired.

It's called downsizing....not good considering they are already a fairly small company.

Don't be surprised if they moved Canada as a preemptive measure against bankruptcy--EG: they may find our laws are more generous towards filing chapter 13 than in Norway. Or some other form of protection...rather than cutting their pay roll.

There is nothing "sunny" to be found in that article.

Do you even know what causes bankruptcies..?
 

 

Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay its creditors. 

Norway is one of the worst companies in the world to run a business.  35% of the population over 16 lives on some form of welfare, another 30% work for the government in some form of capacity, and the rest of the population sell fish or oil.  Wages and taxes are extremely high, and Norwegians have more vacation than anyone else.  By moving their business to Canada, Funcom can cut its salary costs by almost 50% (partially due to Canadian subsidies).  The strange thing is why they have not moved to Canada before now. 

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Aercus

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

I agree it's not dead.

I can't agree this isn't a part of the "death dance," because I'm sure you'd agree that these are not signs of a healthy functional company.

There will be certain events or actions you'd expect a company to take before they claim bankruptcy. Those actions are unfolding before our eyes.

This announcement is just one of a series events we'll hear about leading up to their inevitable fate (like any struggling company).  I suspect if things don't improve, well hear about a couple more rounds of lay-offs and perhaps high rank executives being fired.

It's called downsizing....not good considering they are already a fairly small company.

Don't be surprised if they moved Canada as a preemptive measure against bankruptcy--EG: they may find our laws are more generous towards filing chapter 13 than in Norway. Or some other form of protection...rather than cutting their pay roll.

There is nothing "sunny" to be found in that article.

Do you even know what causes bankruptcies..?
 

 

 

Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay its creditors. 

Exactly. Short version: Cash. And how much does FC have of this..?

Originally posted by Aercus

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Aercus

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

I agree it's not dead.

I can't agree this isn't a part of the "death dance," because I'm sure you'd agree that these are not signs of a healthy functional company.

There will be certain events or actions you'd expect a company to take before they claim bankruptcy. Those actions are unfolding before our eyes.

This announcement is just one of a series events we'll hear about leading up to their inevitable fate (like any struggling company).  I suspect if things don't improve, well hear about a couple more rounds of lay-offs and perhaps high rank executives being fired.

It's called downsizing....not good considering they are already a fairly small company.

Don't be surprised if they moved Canada as a preemptive measure against bankruptcy--EG: they may find our laws are more generous towards filing chapter 13 than in Norway. Or some other form of protection...rather than cutting their pay roll.

There is nothing "sunny" to be found in that article.

Do you even know what causes bankruptcies..?
 

 

 

Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay its creditors. 

 

Exactly. Short version: Cash. And how much does FC have of this..?

I'm not sure where you are going with this considering they are laying off 20% of there staff and taking drastic measures to reduce costs.. But as I stated, these are the events that lead up to bankruptcy. I never said it was going to happen today.

Its obvious they are taking measures that any unhealthy company will take should that day come. Look at the series of events that lead to ....say....GM's bankruptcy. Micheal Moore predicted that in" Roger & Me" 20 years ago. But then again...GM is a huge company.

I'm not saying it will happen today, or even next week.

But these are the classic events that lead up to it.

All in all. We can call it Downsizing. Which includes lay-offs, halting other projects...etc. It's not the final step. But it's definitely a step in that direction.

EDIT: FYI: GM had billions of dollars on hand when they claimed bankruptcy

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

I agree it's not dead.

I can't agree this isn't a part of the "death dance," because I'm sure you'd agree that these are not signs of a healthy functional company.

There will be certain events or actions you'd expect a company to take before they claim bankruptcy. Those actions are unfolding before our eyes.

True laying off staff is a bad sign, but if you look at the financial times we are in it's obvious that this can be a factor in all of this. The world have gone through what commonly known as a financial crise. Norway wasn't hit that hard, but we have had our share of companies going bankrupt or having to lay off employee's. Companies still do it due to not all companies felt the effect of the crise at the same time.  EA did it months ago where they fired 500+ employee's.  Still no one talks about EA going bankrupt any time soon.

This announcement is just one of a series events we'll hear about leading up to their inevitable fate (like any struggling company).  I suspect if things don't improve, well hear about a couple more rounds of lay-offs and perhaps high rank executives being fired.

It's called downsizing....not good considering they are already a fairly small company.

Don't be surprised if they moved Canada as a preemptive measure against bankruptcy--EG: they may find our laws are more generous towards filing chapter 13 than in Norway. Or some other form of protection...rather than cutting their pay roll.

There is nothing "sunny" to be found in that article.

The article pretty much states the benefits of moving to Canade openly and that is good benefits for any game developing company. So it is understandable Funcom wants to use the oppurtunity as it would save them money over time and as any company interested in making money they will cut the costs where it can be done most effectively. Norway isn't an ideal country to have game developmenet in, The article also mentions that funcom has lost 34 millions I think it stood, but that they are in fact earning money. As any company that is openly traded on the stock exchange it is in their interest to earn as much money for their stock holders. If they can increase the income for the company by a lot by moving to Montreal it is a natural thing to do. Funcom isn't the first company in norway to consider moving to a different country due to taxes and the costs of producing things in Norway, they won't be the last either.

But all of this doesn't mean as you seem to think that funcom is getting closer to bankrupt, it can simply mean they look at this as a mean to increase their income. and thus make it easier for themself to finance further projects.

Profits?   I didn't kow that loosing 34 million USD was profit.   Yes - they company lost that amount last year (acording to the article) and they have about the same amount of money left to support expansion of AOC and launch an entire new game in TSW.  And.. they are gonna do that by cutting down by 20 % in manpower.

There is no profit coming.  What Funcom can do now is to lay low for next 2-3 years until ppl that were cheated out of money in AOC calm down and "forget".  Then TSW will be launched with same PR as AOC ... and AO before it.   And  just like with AOC and AC - the game will be half finished, buggy and lacking 50% of the orginal PR features.  Cause... thats what Funcom is all about.  Like it or not.

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

But all of this doesn't mean as you seem to think that funcom is getting closer to bankrupt, it can simply mean they look at this as a mean to increase their income. and thus make it easier for themselves to finance further projects.

 

 

This would suggest that they would have moved to Canada even if they were making money hand-over-fist. This is not the case. As a Canadian myself--I love the fact companies are moving here. But do you have any idea of the costs associated with this kind of move? The red-ribbon involved? The logistics? Just changing from one office to another office down the street is a royal pain. It will be a huge disruption and one FC probably doesn't need to go through right now.

It's not something you just do to become efficient. Canada is way too far from Norway for it to be that kind of move. Never mind the employees who are invited to tag along...they will have huge personal expenses to deal with. I'd be surprised if 5% of the staff will want that type of change or expense.

If this was...say Blizzard we were talking about--I'd buy what you are saying. But i follow FC's business closely, this is not a move to just maximize revenue. There may be other benefits that they will get from the move...but knowing what we ALL know about FC / AoC's situation...it's more of a salvaging operation...then a fine-tuning.

You know this

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

But all of this doesn't mean as you seem to think that funcom is getting closer to bankrupt, it can simply mean they look at this as a mean to increase their income. and thus make it easier for themselves to finance further projects.

 

 

 

This would suggest that they would have moved to Canada even if they were making money hand-over-fist. This is not the case. As a Canadian myself--I love the fact companies are moving here. But do you have any idea of the costs associated with this kind of move? The red-ribbon involved? The logistics? Just changing from one office to another office down the street is a royal pain. It will be a huge disruption and one FC probably doesn't need to go through right now.

It's not something you just do to become efficient. Canada is way too far from Norway for it to be that kind of move. Never mind the employees who are invited to tag along...they will have huge personal expenses to deal with. I'd be surprised if 5% of the staff will want that type of change or expense.

If this was...say Blizzard we were talking about--I'd buy what you are saying. But i follow FC's business closely, this is not a move to just maximize revenue. There may be other benefits that they will get from the move...but knowing what we ALL know about FC / AoC's situation...it's more of a salvaging operation...then a fine-tuning.

 

You know this

The costs for moving office is normally huge, lots of stuff they need to sort out and make sure works as intended . Funcom have started the process, but it won't be done fast. And even tho it might take time it might be the key thing for funcom to make ,more money and be able to produce better games. Producing quality games and money goes hand in hand. Look at blizzard as a prime example. One of few companies that can tell their fanbase that Diablo 3 will be delayed by 6 months and the fans will cheer saying this would improve the game. If another company does that you would get majority of the fans yell at them for being slow with making the game. Blizzard have made quality games for years and  they have the fund to back up the production. And as ong as Blizzard continues to make quality games people will not mind waiting a 6 months extra or maybe a year for a game. Because they know the game will only become better. If funcom can reduce their costs over the coming years by moving their operation to Canada that means they can spend more money on games, and at the moment they need to ensure that they can do this. as For funcom to survive in the business they need to release some good titles in the future to get back up where they once was. AoC and AO have both hurt Funcom's reputation and only way they can restore that is to make sure the games they release from now is in a good shape.
 

About the staff I would be surprised if not a lot of the ones who got the offer to follow to Canada does so, Norway is way too small for a game developer to find good jobs in. we have a few small studios here and there I guess, but only one major studio. And that is Funcom. So for them to find a new job within game developing that means they will have to be willing to move, or find a company that allows them from work from home in Norway. If there had beens everal large studios in Norway most likely they would have stayed. These developers can probably get a job as coder for software in other companies, but most likely they won't be making games. Also from what I have heard a lot of Funcom's employee's are younger people that have the chance to move around, they don't have a family , kids that go in school etc and for the ones that are in this situation this is simply a golden opportunity to geta  fot inside the game developers in Canada, you have studios like ubisoft in the same area where funcom is going to move. So they can be able to get jobs in other companies easier then they can from Norway.

Several places has listed the benefits for a studio to move to Canada, and financial benefits are quite good. But yes Funcom need to do something to maximize their income if they had a good income now they would most likely never have thought of moving at all. So the move from Norway to Canada is not only to save money but to make sure they will be able to survive in the future too. Because you have to be blind to think Funcom is in a awesome financial position now, they aren't they do make money, but looking at the numbers it is nothing compared to what they need to make to be able to grow and release more games.  

 It always makes me sad when people lose jobs, I hope they got decent compensation packages.  

Considering the massive FAIL Aoc was it's not surprising the layoffs are happening.  I'm curious how this will affect development on their next MMO.

 OMG that blackwell dude is not really bright fella and poorly educated as well. People that play MMO's constantly provide me with proves for my saying that every person who plays MMO is an idiot. (including myself ofc :D )

Dude, most of the big companies moved overseas. Like it was already said Europe and speccialy Norway is simply to expensive. As for laying off workers - anyone who didn't expect that is an idiot himself. Probably that is the staff funcom doesn't want to move to Canada or themselves don't want to do that. 

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Game-Developers-Leaving-Europe-UK-Doesn-039-t-Like-it-82066.shtml

Just to chew on something you obviously haven't thought off. IF a company is in such bad state it cannot afford moving in another country simply due to fighting to survive. Those are the companies that stays in Europe. On the other hand such big moves are investment in the future and are FAR from red alerts. In fact a company has to have lots of money, as you noted, to move to another country. As you can read in this poorly written article above the mere fact that it is extremely hard to have HQ in Europe and be competitive is driving Funcom out. 

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

But all of this doesn't mean as you seem to think that funcom is getting closer to bankrupt, it can simply mean they look at this as a mean to increase their income. and thus make it easier for themselves to finance further projects.

 

 

 

This would suggest that they would have moved to Canada even if they were making money hand-over-fist. This is not the case. As a Canadian myself--I love the fact companies are moving here. But do you have any idea of the costs associated with this kind of move? The red-ribbon involved? The logistics? Just changing from one office to another office down the street is a royal pain. It will be a huge disruption and one FC probably doesn't need to go through right now.

It's not something you just do to become efficient. Canada is way too far from Norway for it to be that kind of move. Never mind the employees who are invited to tag along...they will have huge personal expenses to deal with. I'd be surprised if 5% of the staff will want that type of change or expense.

If this was...say Blizzard we were talking about--I'd buy what you are saying. But i follow FC's business closely, this is not a move to just maximize revenue. There may be other benefits that they will get from the move...but knowing what we ALL know about FC / AoC's situation...it's more of a salvaging operation...then a fine-tuning.

 

You know this

The costs for moving office is normally huge, lots of stuff they need to sort out and make sure works as intended . Funcom have started the process, but it won't be done fast. And even tho it might take time it might be the key thing for funcom to make ,more money and be able to produce better games. Producing quality games and money goes hand in hand. Look at blizzard as a prime example. One of few companies that can tell their fanbase that Diablo 3 will be delayed by 6 months and the fans will cheer saying this would improve the game. If another company does that you would get majority of the fans yell at them for being slow with making the game. Blizzard have made quality games for years and  they have the fund to back up the production. And as ong as Blizzard continues to make quality games people will not mind waiting a 6 months extra or maybe a year for a game. Because they know the game will only become better. If funcom can reduce their costs over the coming years by moving their operation to Canada that means they can spend more money on games, and at the moment they need to ensure that they can do this. as For funcom to survive in the business they need to release some good titles in the future to get back up where they once was. AoC and AO have both hurt Funcom's reputation and only way they can restore that is to make sure the games they release from now is in a good shape.
 

About the staff I would be surprised if not a lot of the ones who got the offer to follow to Canada does so, Norway is way too small for a game developer to find good jobs in. we have a few small studios here and there I guess, but only one major studio. And that is Funcom. So for them to find a new job within game developing that means they will have to be willing to move, or find a company that allows them from work from home in Norway. If there had beens everal large studios in Norway most likely they would have stayed. These developers can probably get a job as coder for software in other companies, but most likely they won't be making games. Also from what I have heard a lot of Funcom's employee's are younger people that have the chance to move around, they don't have a family , kids that go in school etc and for the ones that are in this situation this is simply a golden opportunity to geta  fot inside the game developers in Canada, you have studios like ubisoft in the same area where funcom is going to move. So they can be able to get jobs in other companies easier then they can from Norway.

Several places has listed the benefits for a studio to move to Canada, and financial benefits are quite good. But yes Funcom need to do something to maximize their income if they had a good income now they would most likely never have thought of moving at all. So the move from Norway to Canada is not only to save money but to make sure they will be able to survive in the future too. Because you have to be blind to think Funcom is in a awesome financial position now, they aren't they do make money, but looking at the numbers it is nothing compared to what they need to make to be able to grow and release more games.  

I don't disagree with anything you said here

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

But all of this doesn't mean as you seem to think that funcom is getting closer to bankrupt, it can simply mean they look at this as a mean to increase their income. and thus make it easier for themselves to finance further projects.

 

 

 

This would suggest that they would have moved to Canada even if they were making money hand-over-fist. This is not the case. As a Canadian myself--I love the fact companies are moving here. But do you have any idea of the costs associated with this kind of move? The red-ribbon involved? The logistics? Just changing from one office to another office down the street is a royal pain. It will be a huge disruption and one FC probably doesn't need to go through right now.

It's not something you just do to become efficient. Canada is way too far from Norway for it to be that kind of move. Never mind the employees who are invited to tag along...they will have huge personal expenses to deal with. I'd be surprised if 5% of the staff will want that type of change or expense.

If this was...say Blizzard we were talking about--I'd buy what you are saying. But i follow FC's business closely, this is not a move to just maximize revenue. There may be other benefits that they will get from the move...but knowing what we ALL know about FC / AoC's situation...it's more of a salvaging operation...then a fine-tuning.

 

You know this

The costs for moving office is normally huge, lots of stuff they need to sort out and make sure works as intended . Funcom have started the process, but it won't be done fast. And even tho it might take time it might be the key thing for funcom to make ,more money and be able to produce better games. Producing quality games and money goes hand in hand. Look at blizzard as a prime example. One of few companies that can tell their fanbase that Diablo 3 will be delayed by 6 months and the fans will cheer saying this would improve the game. If another company does that you would get majority of the fans yell at them for being slow with making the game. Blizzard have made quality games for years and  they have the fund to back up the production. And as ong as Blizzard continues to make quality games people will not mind waiting a 6 months extra or maybe a year for a game. Because they know the game will only become better. If funcom can reduce their costs over the coming years by moving their operation to Canada that means they can spend more money on games, and at the moment they need to ensure that they can do this. as For funcom to survive in the business they need to release some good titles in the future to get back up where they once was. AoC and AO have both hurt Funcom's reputation and only way they can restore that is to make sure the games they release from now is in a good shape.
 

About the staff I would be surprised if not a lot of the ones who got the offer to follow to Canada does so, Norway is way too small for a game developer to find good jobs in. we have a few small studios here and there I guess, but only one major studio. And that is Funcom. So for them to find a new job within game developing that means they will have to be willing to move, or find a company that allows them from work from home in Norway. If there had beens everal large studios in Norway most likely they would have stayed. These developers can probably get a job as coder for software in other companies, but most likely they won't be making games. Also from what I have heard a lot of Funcom's employee's are younger people that have the chance to move around, they don't have a family , kids that go in school etc and for the ones that are in this situation this is simply a golden opportunity to geta  fot inside the game developers in Canada, you have studios like ubisoft in the same area where funcom is going to move. So they can be able to get jobs in other companies easier then they can from Norway.

Several places has listed the benefits for a studio to move to Canada, and financial benefits are quite good. But yes Funcom need to do something to maximize their income if they had a good income now they would most likely never have thought of moving at all. So the move from Norway to Canada is not only to save money but to make sure they will be able to survive in the future too. Because you have to be blind to think Funcom is in a awesome financial position now, they aren't they do make money, but looking at the numbers it is nothing compared to what they need to make to be able to grow and release more games.  

 

I don't disagree with anything you said here

And I don't disagree with anything you said here! 

"The Company's development of the Age of Conan expansion pack and its preparations for launch in Korea will continue as planned, as will the preparations for the limited beta of its first free- to-play MMO scheduled to take place during Q4. The development of The Secret World will be some months extended due to the initiatives with even more focus on ensuring the delivery of a game that is fully in line with the high expectations amongst fans and gamers across the world"

Sorry for those who lost their jobs.

looks like effects to Conan are minimal.

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

looks like effects to Conan are minimal.

Problem is, given AoC's history and current state, minimal effects are not a good thing.

This wont be the last downsizing....after the expansion I imagine somewhere in the range of 90-95% of AoC's staff gone....so nothing to look foward to after but patches and the odd new instance.

The issue is AoC does nothing better than any other MMO and a lot of things are much worse than other MMOs....if the game did well it would be expanding staff.

It is sad but this reduction of force will let Funcom live a bit longer.