Today, we learned that Funcom would be co-publishing their upcoming MMO The Secret World with EA. To clear things up, we had a few questions about the deal that we asked to Morten Larssen, Funcom's VP of Sales and marketing.
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MMORPG.com: |
Does this mean that Funcom is now one of the many studios being bought up by EA? |
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Morten Larssen: |
No, this is purely a co-publishing agreement. EA does not have ownership in Funcom and EA is not involved in our other projects. |
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MMORPG.com: |
What is the difference between EA and EA Partners? |
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Morten Larssen: |
EA Partners is a division of Electronic Arts, a co-publishing arm dedicated to publishing and distributing games developed by third-party developers. Valve, Crytek and Epic are among the companies involved with EA Partners. |
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MMORPG.com: |
What exactly does co-publishing mean? |
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Morten Larssen: |
Funcom and EA will work together on distribution and marketing specifically for ‘The Secret World’ title. We look forward to utilizing their experience and their knowledge to make sure we reach our ambitious goals for the title. |
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MMORPG.com: |
How much say will the brass at EA have over the development of The Secret World? |
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Morten Larssen: |
This is primarily a co-publishing agreement. EA will not be directly involved with the design of the game, but we will work together to make sure that we meet the production milestones for the game as is common when entering into a co-publishing agreement. |
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MMORPG.com: |
Will this deal in any way change the way that Secret World will be rolled out to the public? |
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Morten Larssen: |
We will definitely work together with EA to make sure that we maximize the impact of our marketing initiatives for the game. We have several exciting plans for how to promote ‘The Secret World’ and we will work together with EA to perfect these plans to make sure ‘The Secret World’ fulfills its true potential. |
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MMORPG.com: |
There will be those who say of the news that Funcom is in some kind of “dire straights” and is unable to launch and distribute The Secret World on its own. Can you speak to that? |
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Morten Larssen: |
Not at all, co-publishing makes perfect sense. Funcom is primarily a game developer, and signing a co-publishing agreement with EA will ensure that we get the game out to a greater number of people. Similarly we did the same with ‘Age of Conan’ when we teamed up with Eidos to co-publish that title. Most game developers either sign a publishing or co-publishing agreement for specific titles. This includes ‘Age of Conan’, ‘Lord of the Rings Online’, and others. |
