Funcom Had A Great Q4, Is Working On New Conan, Shooter, And Turn-Based Strategy Games

Funcom published its Q4 2017 financial statement today, and it's all good news, as the company states 2017 was the "most profitable year in the Company's history." That's a sharp departure from what we've seen from the company in past years, when it was in dire enough straits that some wondered if it could be saved. To turn things around, Funcom did what many game developers have done the past few years: Release an early access survival game and convert a paid MMO into a free-to-play one.

For purposes of this site, its Free MMOs -- Secret World Legends and Age of Conan -- are our main focuses, though AoC only gets the briefest of mentions. SWL is coming along with content aplenty, including some that was revealed last week. SWL and Conan Exiles "dominated revenue in the quarter," which was up over 70% from Q4 2016.

As for what's coming in the future, tomorrow's reveal will be the collaboration with Bearded Dragons we heard about last year and will be a "tactical turn-based strategy game," which seems to fit the mold of Atlas Reactor or Hand of the Gods. We'll find out if it's free-to-play -- and therefore something we'll continue to cover -- in about 12 hours. In any case, it will launch sometime in 2018.

What we won't be covering is another "major project" from Funcom North Carolina that will enter development in March. This game is described as a "Cooperative online shooter game with a Premium business model," which makes it sound distinctly Overwatch-y. Also, Funcom Oslo is still working on a new Conan-based game, scheduled to go into development after Conan Exiles' full launch, which will occur on May 8. There's no word on what kind of game that will be, or whether it will be free-to-play or paid, so we'll stay alert for any possible new information.