Funcom, the Oslo-based MMO developer of The Secret World and most recently, the commercially flailing Lego Minifigures Online, has confirmed that it is “actively seeking interested parties for discussions surrounding a possible investment, acquisition, merger, or any other available options.”
Originally launched last year as a free-to-play PC MMO, Lego Minifigures Online didn’t perform anywhere near internal projections in relation to the game’s target audience. Feeling that the monetization model made the game less fun (which should come as no great surprise), Funcom proceeded to overhaul the game and re-release it in June in a premium format though sadly, it failed to fare any better as a result.
“The game is currently not meeting internal revenue forecasts,” the Norwegian outfit stated just weeks after the re-launch. “This is mostly due to low sales on the PC platform. Sales on the iOS platform have performed better, mainly due to the featuring in the Apple Store during the launch week, but as the price point of the game on this platform is lower, these additional sales are not enough to compensate for the low sales on PC for the time being.”
Throwing a further wrench into the proceedings is that Funcom has debts which require to be closed out in June 2016, with the company confirming that it does not expect its revenue to cover both its operational expenses and debt obligations. While Funcom looks for an acquisition or a merger then, in the interim the company has been in talks with its principal creditor to hammer out an agreement.
As well as Lego Minifigures Online and The Secret World, Funcom have also been responsible for free-to-play MMO titles Anarchy Online and Age of Conan, too.
