Funcom confirms studio closures, layoffs

The Secret World and Age of Conan developer Funcom has begun a restructuring process that includes studio closures, layoffs, and "the streamlining of internal processes," the company announced today. Funcom has offices in Norway, Canada, China, Switzerland, and the United States, though it is not clear which outfits were affected or how deep the staff cuts were.

A Funcom representative was not immediately available to comment. Specific results of the restructuring will be made available once the process is complete.

According to the announcement, Funcom will come out of the restructuring "better equipped to realize the strategy of building high-quality MMO games," including the upcoming Lego MMO in development at the studio's Oslo, Norway outfit.

"Through providing more organizational focus and strengthening the competence of a joint central team that will continue to operate and enhance these games, the company will work towards increasing their profitability and continue to provide exciting experiences for existing, returning and new players of these online worlds," reads a line from the statement.

Funcom said the recent free-to-play relaunch of The Secret World has been especially successful, with "activity levels" in the game rising 400 percent. Additionally, more than 70,000 copies of the game (nearly 30 percent of all previous sales) were sold in the past four weeks.

The Secret World launched in early July 2012, selling 200,000 copies by the end of August and becoming profitable a month later.