This is very unfortunate news as gamesindustry.biz reports on Funcom layoffs and the delay of The Secret World. Apparently Funcom will cut its workforce by 20% to cut costs. As a result, The Secret World will be delayed by a few months while they re-organize. This comes as fairly unexpected news considering the company recently announced it would be opening a new studio in Quebec, Canada. But apparently by shifting their workforce to the Canada, they will be able to take advantage of a salary reimbursement from the Quebec government.

As first reported on Massive Gamer, the rumour mill is spinning with news that Funcom has laid off a healthy number of their North American employees. No official confirmation has been made as of yet.

According to anonymous sources, Funcom has just laid off a large number of their North American staff. The rumor has the victims being mostly QA. It’s hard to blame the sources for being anonymous – the process may not be over, and yammering to a news site could move a person up to the top of the next chop list.