Many dedicated fans and investors have expressed disappointment with multiple delays from the Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game ‘Age of Conan’ produced by the Norwegian games developer Funcom, an independent developer and publisher of computer and console games with a focus on Action Adventure and Massively Multiplayer Online Games [1]. Correlating to the announcement of the launch delays, it had been observed that a steep fall in Funcom’s stock value has repeatedly followed Age of Conan’s delays.

The first unexpected delay was announced on August 17th 2007 and delayed the launch date of Age of Conan to 25th of March, 2008 [2]. Funcom released a “Letter to the Community” in response to the delay. The Letter reflected that after extensive beta-testing it has been found that there was a very steep learning curve for new players. Consequently the developers decided they required more time to expand on the initial part of the game where players are introduced to the world [3]. A poll conducted by ConanHQ demonstrated that the delay raised mixed reactions in the community, 41% of users disagreed with the decision [4]. Negative sentiment in the community and negative publicity contributed to a combined affect and led to a severe drop in Funcom’s stock value. [5]

The second delay was announced on Jan 1st 2008 and delayed the launch date of Age of Conan to the May 20th 2008 [6]. As previously, Funcom released a ‘Letter from the Game Direction’ to respond to the community. The explanation related that developers still required more time to fix mounting bugs and needed to further polish the game before launch [7]. As before, there was an outcry in the community and numerous fan-sites and gaming websites such as IGN [8] criticized Funcom for the delay. The bad publicity contributed to another significant drop in Funcom’s stock value. [5]



[1] “Funcom - Company Info”. Funcom Company Description. 2008.
http://www.funcom.com/wsp/funcom/frontend....H&item=1007

[2] “Funcom sets new release date for Age of Conan”. Funcom Press Release. Jan 2008.
http://www.funcom.com/wsp/funcom/frontend....p;table=CONTENT

[3]“Letter to the Community”. Funcom Community Forums. Aug 2007.
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=36653

[4]“Do You Feel The 5 Month Delay Was Necessary?” ConanHQ Poll. Aug 2007.
http://www.conanhq.com/images/stock/poll.htm

[5] "Funcom (OSLO: FUNCOM.OL) Market Value". Yahoo Finance. Jan 2008.
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=FUNCOM....ource=undefined

[6] “Funcom Announce New Release Date for Age of Conan”. Funcom Press Release. Aug 2007
http://www.funcom.com/wsp/funcom/frontend....p;table=CONTENT

[7]“Letter from the Game Director” Age of Conan - Community Portal. Jan 2008.
http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/...p;table=CONTENT

[8]“Age of Conan Pushed Back” IGN. Jan 2008.
http://pc.ign.com/articles/846/846668p1.html

COPYRIGHT 2008 ZYBEZ CORP
COPYRIGHT 2008 CONANHQ