Layoffs and studio closures strike at Funcom

Funcom, the publisher of MMOs such as The Secret World and Age of Conan, has announced a series of layoffs and studio closures as part of company restructuring.

Details will not be released until the process is complete.

The recent launch of The Secret World was something of a dissappointment, but Funcom claims the subsequent removal of the subscription requirement has led to a 400 percent increase in in-game activity.

A company statement says the restructure will streamline the business to focus on its core products and services.

With the Lego Minifigures MMO in the works at its Oslo studio, any developer layoffs are most likely to strike older projects such as Anarchy Online and Age of Conan.

“We are building the basis of a very sustainable business” said Funcom CEO Ole Schreiner.

“With a restructured organization, we will have a joint team of the best-of-the-best working together to expand our existing online worlds and to create new, exciting and memorable online experiences such as our upcoming ‘LEGO Minifigures’ game.”

It is unclear if this means more layoffs than those already revealed for the company, which responded to earlier reports by insisting that less than half of its Oslo studio had been let go.