by Alice O'Connor, Dec 12, 2012 7:00am PST
by Alice O'Connor, Nov 14, 2012 10:00am PST
Funcom has prided itself on deviating somewhat from the standard MMORPG mould in The Secret World, and the fourth update--the "biggest update yet," so it says--demonstrates that fairly nicely. Along with a new 10-person raid set across New York City, Issue #4 will add a theatre you can hire to put on your own plays for people to come and see, a new video demonstrates. All right, that's pretty unexpected for an MMORPG.
Watch: The developer diary »
by Steve Watts, Sep 21, 2012 10:00am PDT
by Steve Watts, Sep 12, 2012 12:00pm PDT
The Secret World is getting its second major content update tomorrow. This marks a slight delay from its original plan to issue the update yesterday, which was itself a bigger delay from its initial August 28 date. But it's finally on its way, probably, and Funcom has released a trailer detailing the changes.
Watch: Missions, group tools, and more »
by Alice O'Connor, Sep 04, 2012 12:45pm PDT
"We're not about to change," The Secret World creative director Ragnar Tørnquist has said as developer Funcom dusts itself off and gets back to work following layoffs and a launch less successful than it'd hoped for. Funcom's plan is to make no drastic changes but simply keep releasing content updates while making the supernatural MMORPG friendlier to new players, Tørnquist explained.
Read more: Layoffs "are the way of things" »
by Andrew Yoon, Aug 24, 2012 4:00pm PDT
More bad news for The Secret World, Funcom's newly launched subscription MMO. The next content update, "Issue 2: Digging Deeper," has been delayed. Originally planned for an August 28th release, it has been pushed back to September 11th.
Oddly, Funcom has been upfront about the reason for the delay, noting that the company's recent downsizing has affected development. "As you may know, this week has been a challenging one for everyone at Funcom. We initiated a process of reducing costs after the launch of The Secret World and this has naturally affected the production schedule as we work on readjusting the team and our internal development processes," the company said in a statement.
Read more: Funcom promises 'to get back on track' »
by Andrew Yoon, Aug 21, 2012 3:30pm PDT
Funcom, developer of the recently released subscription MMO, The Secret World, is laying off a considerable number of staff. Citing "expected lower initial revenues" from the game, the company has announced a "reduction of operating costs" that includes "temporary layoffs as well as other initiatives."
Read more: Could affect up to half of the studio »
by Alice O'Connor, Jul 30, 2012 6:00am PDT
Going anywhere nice for the weekend? Why not pay a visit to The Secret World, as Funcom will be opening up its supernatural MMORPG for everyone to play for two-and-a-bit days. Festivities to celebrate the one month anniversary of its launch will also bring fireworks and prizes.
Read more: Runs Friday to Sunday »
by Alice O'Connor, Jul 13, 2012 5:00pm PDT
by Ozzie Mejia, Jul 12, 2012 1:30pm PDT
Age of Conan developer Funcom has jumped back into the MMO space with The Secret World, a story of underground cabals exploring a cavalcade of urban legends and mythical creatures. With a near-endless well of supernatural lore to draw inspiration from, this MMO is filled with a variety of story-based content, most of which I enjoyed. However, I have reservations as to whether this game can sustain a monthly subscription model.
The Secret World's story has three underground factions vying for global domination: the Illuminati, the Templars, and the Dragon. Their goal is to explore legendary parts of the world and find the source of a rising evil. These three secret societies are immensely powerful and decidedly sinister with no traditional "white hat" do-gooders to be found. Any good deeds performed in this game are purely a means to an end.
Read more: Variety and freedom »
by Alice O'Connor, Jul 09, 2012 11:00am PDT
Going free-to-play is the hip and groovy thing for faltering MMORPGs to do once interest dwindles, but few super big-budget fancy MMOs are willing to ditch subscriptions entirely and go F2P from the start. The Secret World creator Ragnar Tornquist has said while he's "sure" it'll eventually go free-to-play, for now developer Funcom is "committed" to the subscription model.
Read more: Players are 'happier paying a steady monthly fee' »
by Alice O'Connor, Jul 03, 2012 6:45am PDT
by Steve Watts, Jun 29, 2012 12:30pm PDT
by Alice O'Connor, Jun 19, 2012 10:30am PDT
As The Secret World prepares to creep in under your door on July 3, developer Funcom has announced that its final beta weekend will be open to everyone who fancies it. All you need to do is sign up by June 22, then you can play the beta all this weekend.
Read more: Introducing a PvP war zone »
by Alice O'Connor, May 25, 2012 6:00am PDT
As The Secret World has already been kept hidden from our eyes for thousands of years, not to mention delayed several times, another fortnight of not knowing about the Lovecraftian horrors clawing at reality's walls shouldn't hurt. Funcom announced this morning that its real-world-y MMORPG has been delayed to July 3, also revealing the beta event schedule to soften the blow.
Read more: Delayed to slip into better launch window »
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