You can view the 89 page Funcom Annual Report for 2008 in .pdf form. We’ll run down some highlights for you.

• Age of Conan pre-sold more than any original PC game launch in history, with 1.2 million copies of the game shipped to retailers.

• Anarchy Online will celebrate its eight year anniversary in June 2009.
• A new Game Director for Anarchy Online was appointed, and his team spearheaded the development of the new booster pack, Legacy of Xan.
• By the end of 2008 over 300 full-time employees were working with Funcom, located in offices in Switzerland, Norway, USA and China.
• Some operations were scaled back after the launch of Age of Conan, including Customer Service and Quality Assurance, while other teams saw growth, most notably in China.
• In 2008 Funcom started development of two Free-To-Play MMOs, with continued development on The Secret World and Anarchy Online.
• In addition to developing two F2P MMOs, Funcom has begun the research phase on a third.
• Funcom aims to emerge as a leading independent developer of F2P games.
• Funcom continues to invest in Age of Conan and expect the next 6-9 months to show whether they can once again enter a growth phase with the game.
• Funcom’s next large scale MMO, The Secret World, has started PR.
• Free-To-Play MMOs in beta testing.
• Funcom continues to develop their DreamWorld Engine, and have about 30 programmers working on it.
• In 2008 Funcom sold its interest in Plutolife, which concluded its involvement in the mobile gaming sector.
• In January and February 2009 the Group launched localized versions of Age of Conan in Poland and Russia with positive gamer and press recentpion.
• On February 23, 2009 Olav Sandnes gave notice of resignation as CFO. Mr. Sandnes left the company to take up a new position in a different industry.
• On March 5, 2009 options to acquire shares were granted to key personnel in Funcom.

Financial Calendar for 2009

Monday, 23 February – Q4 2008
Friday, 15 May – Q1 2009
Wednesday, 26 August – Q2 2009
Thursday, 12 November – Q3 2009

All financial bits have been left out to avoid putting anyone to sleep.

Rock Paper Shotgun interviews Funcom’s Ragnar Tørnquist. They talk about Tørnquist’s involvement with Anarchy Online, storyline, learning from other MMOs, TSW class progression, the world for The Secret World and more. Here’s a little snip on guilds:

RPS: Any plans for guilds, player-built objects?

Tørnquist: We’ll have something called cabals, which is our version of guilds, and there will be something tied to that which allows players to make a permanent stamp on the world. I can’t say too much about it, but there are mechanics for creating networks and allowing people to feel like they are part of something bigger.

MTV Multiplayer follows up on Funcom’s recent staff cuts to find out if they will affect Age of Conan PC or the Xbox 360 version of the game. Erling Ellingsen had the following to say:

“Our aim is for this to not affect development of ‘Age of Conan,’ or any of our other games, at all. We are sticking firmly to our plans. The Xbox 360 version of the game is still in production, but as before we are not committing to any specific dates. I wish I could give you more information, but I can’t at the time being.”

Gamasutra has an interesting interview up with Aleksander Grondal, producer of the upcoming Battlefield Heroes, a free to play entry in the Battlefield (FPS) series. They were inspired by Korea’s free-to-play MMO model, but how do you make Battlefield free? They intend to run ads on the website and in the game design, such as the loading screens, but not in the actual game itself. You’ll also be able to do microtransactions for real currency.

Aleksander’s own development background includes working at Funcom on Anarchy Online and Dreamfall.

“I think I’ve brought something new into DICE, because they have been all about shooters, and we’re adding a sort of MMO approach. I think that together we make a good fit for Heroes.”

Funcom’s November 12 2008, Q3 2008 report is now out (.pdf). Some interesting stuff in there, check out highlights below:

Financial

• Increased revenues due to Age of Conan.
• Steady revenues from Anarchy Online.
• MMO Success Criteria and Age of Conan Status.
• Short Term and Long Term Focus for Age of Conan.
• Goals: More compelling RPG ruleset, more content utilizing improved ruleset.

Feature Updates

• Q4 2008: Ymir’s Pass, DX10, 2 High Level Dungeons.
• Q1 2009: New Item/RPG system, 1-2 new playfields, new dungeons.
• Q2-Q3 2009: Continuous updates with high end content and systems.
• Q4 2009: Expansion.

Sales and Marketing

• Free trial offers (Q4 2008 – Q1 2009).
• Polish and Russian launches.
• Loyalty program for long-time subscribers (Q1 2009).

The Secret World – Status

• 4 playfields close to complete.
• 4-5 playfields in development.
• Large asset library developed.
• Implementing RPG and combat system.
• 70 people working on project.
• PR and community building commencing early 2009.

The Secret World – Backgrounds

• Funcom created brand.
• Explore a secret world within our world where every mystery, myth, conspiracy theory and urban legend is true.
• MMO gaming combined with Alternate Reality Gaming and social networking.
• Funcom’s proprietary DreamWorld tech.
• PC and Xbox 360 platforms.