Funcom revenues fall on Age of Conan delay

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures developer Funcom has reported its fourth-quarter earnings, for the three-month period ending December 31, 2007. Revenues slightly declined over the same period the previous year from $2.1 million to $1.7 million, and losses before taxes widened from $1 million to $3.1 million.

The company is hurting from the latest delay and costs associated with its massively multiplayer online role-playing game Age of Conan, which was put back in January from March to May 20. Funcom states that this is as expected, and that revenues are expected to continue to decline slightly until the game's release. It adds that, so far, more than 500,000 people have signed up for the Age of Conan beta and/or the game's newsletter.

Furthermore, during the previous year's Q4, Lost Eden was released, along with an expansion pack for sci-fi MMO Anarchy Online, which spiked revenues over that period. Anarchy Online, along with Plutolife, is providing "steady revenues," according to the company line.

Funcom would also like everyone to know that its financial position remains strong, and it has a cash balance of $52.4 million as of the end of December.

Another booster pack is currently in the works for Anarchy Online, along with the implementation of a new rendering engine. Funcom is also hard at work on the recently announced MMO The Secret World. Casual MMOs are also on the radar, with the technology required currently in development.