| Funcom Productions A/S | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Public |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
| Key people | Gaute Godager, Co-founder Trond Arne Aas, CEO |
| Industry | Computer and video game industry |
| Products | The Longest Journey Anarchy Online Age of Conan Dreamfall |
| Revenue | USD 10.822 million (2006) |
| Operating income |  USD 3.220 million (2006) |
| Net income | USD 3.236 million (2006) |
| Employees | 233 |
| Website | www.funcom.com |
Funcom Productions A/S (OSE: FUNCOM)is a Norwegian computer and video game developer and publisher. Besides its Oslo, Norway, headquarters, Funcom has offices in USA, China, and Switzerland.
Contents |
History
Founded in 1993 by Erik Gloersen, Ian Neil, Andre Backen, Gaute Godager and Olav Mørkrid, the company is one of the leading independent game developers and publishers in the world, possibly number one in Europe. They focus mainly on PC games but has also released games on other consoles such as Super NES, Sega Saturn, Sega Genesis and Xbox.
In December 2005, Funcom was the first Norwegian game developer to be listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. On 14 March 2007, the company abandoned traditional "offline" product distribution (e.g. on optical discs) in favor of digital distribution completely. The main reason for this decision was admittedly the financial losses due to software piracy.[1]
Well-known games
The Longest Journey was produced by Ragnar Tørnquist and was very well received both by critics and users. The game was published in 8 languages: English, Norwegian, French, Dutch, Swedish, Polish, Russian and Spanish. The game was also released in other countries, but mainly in English-speaking ones. Anarchy Online is a critically acclaimed online game, more specifically a MMORPG, with 20 international awards; including several from RPG Vault. Funcom issued several expansions; The Notum Wars, Alien Invasion, Shadowlands and Lost Eden. Founder Gaute Godager was the first Game Director, before Marius Enge released Alien Invasion and took over at the release of Shadowlands. However, shortly after the release of Alien Invasion, Morten Byom took over. Later, near the release of the Lost Eden expansion, Byom moved on to the Age of Conan team, and was succeded as Game Director by Craig Morrison, also known as "Silirrion". Following the game, a book has been written about the pre-history about the planet and also a CD with music from the game has been released. In the spring of 2006, the company released the sequel to The Longest Journey for the Xbox and PC, entitled Dreamfall. Funcom is also developing a highly-anticipated online action RPG for PC and console entitled Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. This product utilizes the Conan the Cimmerian franchise license and is slated for release in March 2008. As of 2006, Funcom has released 23 games. The development of their next MMO (called The Secret World) was announced on November 5th, 2007. [1]
List of games
- The Secret World — MMORPG (PC & XBox 360),[2] previously known as The World Online.[3]
- Dreamfall Chapters — (PC & XBox 360 (?))[4]
- Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures — MMORPG (PC & Xbox 360 - 2008)
- Dreamfall — Adventure (PC & Xbox - 2006)
- Midgard — MMORPG (PC - cancelled)
- No Escape — Shooter (PC - 2000)
- The Longest Journey — Adventure (PC - 2000)
- Anarchy Online — MMORPG (PC - 1999)
- Speed Freaks also known as Speed Punks — Racing (PlayStation)
- Casper — Puzzle Adventure (Sega Saturn)
- CMX — Racing (PlayStation)
- Winter Gold — Sports (Super Nintendo)
- Steel Rebellion — Strategy (PC - cancelled)
- Daze Before Christmas — Action (Genesis/SNES)
- Samurai Shodown — Fighting (Sega CD)
- NBA Hangtime — Sports (Genesis)
- Fatal Fury Special — Fighting (Sega CD)
- Nightmare Circus — Action (Genesis)
- Disney's Pocahontas — Adventure (Genesis)
- A Dinosaur's Tale — Adventure (Genesis)
References
- ^ Hagerup, Eivind (2007-03-14). Funcom drops "offline" PC games. Adventure Gamers. Retrieved on 2007-03-15.
- ^ Funcom Latest MMORPG announced for PC and Xbox 360
- ^ The Secret World is secret no more
- ^ Funcom awarded grant from Norwegian Film Fund. Funcom (2007-03-01). Retrieved on 2007-03-01.
