"The Secret World" Dark Days are Coming.

Batfink1973

Found this whilst web-browsing.  Looks interesting.

 

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Funcom reveals ‘The Secret World’

A modern day online world of action, horror and intriguing conspiracies awaits

New action-packed MMO set to release on both Xbox 360 and PC

 

Durham, USA – May 11th, 2007 – From the creators of ‘Age of Conan’, ‘Anarchy Online’, ‘The Longest Journey’ and 'Dreamfall' comes a brave new massively multiplayer online role–playing game for the PC and Xbox 360. Taking place on our earth, in our times, ‘The Secret World’ (TSW) is inspired by history and mythology, modern conspiracy theories and ancient mysteries.

 

For there really is a world within ours, a secret world, where magic exists, monsters roam and ancient forces are fighting for the dominance of earth. It is a world of legendary stories, ageless conflicts and powerful cabals. In this world, even modern cities hide secrets. In this world, players can take part in the greatest conspiracies of our age, and battle the forces of darkness across the world and throughout time.

 

“We started envisioning this contemporary online world more than ten years ago, and as the years passed the ideas grew and improved,“ said Ragnar Tørnquist, Producer and Director on ‘The Secret World’. “We always wanted a different kind of online world, something scary and contemporary, something deeper and closer to our reality. Our goal now is to create a detailed world where players feel empowered and part of something big, something mystical and epic.”

 

“We believe there are millions of gamers out there who want to explore something beyond traditional fantasy and sci-fi games,“ said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. “'The Secret World' is just that – a fantastic new setting that will fuel the imagination of online gamers, and keep players busy for years. We have a golden opportunity to bring something fresh and exciting to the genre, and we firmly believe the game is an ideal extension of Funcom’s MMO portfolio.”

 

‘The Secret World’ has been in development since last summer and the game is in a playable state. It is produced at the Funcom studios in Oslo and Beijing. A release date is not being announced at this point, but players are already getting involved in the fast-growing community. Through a complex web-based mystery launched on May 6^th, players are being led to a series of websites, including www.DarkDaysAreComing.com, where – after solving a puzzle – concept art from the game is being unveiled.

 

As a gamer you can become a member of the first wave community, and through pioneer forums you can discuss and explore the intriguing backstory. To access the forums and learn more about the mystery make sure you check out: http://www.darkdemonscrygaia.com/

 

 

 

johnmatthais

sounds great and all but...they haven't even launched Conan and they already have a new MMO? This will spell disaster for both...Webzen can't even manage their time on their 5 or 6 MMOs well...and only one is expected to be huge...

Zorvan

 

Originally posted by johnmatthais


sounds great and all but...they haven't even launched Conan and they already have a new MMO? This will spell disaster for both...Webzen can't even manage their time on their 5 or 6 MMOs well...and only one is expected to be huge...

The Secret World (or The World as was it's working title ) was already being worked on years BEFORE AoC. There were even screenshots posted on the AO forums. Alot of us who heard about it while playing AO were waiting for this game, when FC decided to go the fantasy route with AoC, instead. So, I don't think a game that's apparently been worked on in the shadows all this time is going to "spell disaster" for anything.

 

And comparing Funcom to Webzen is a joke. FC is far above Webzen in quality and originality. However, that is just my opinion.

Edit: to the OP, this is old news. Try Google next time and the search function here before making new threads, please.

Batfink1973

The known production timeline for The Secret World



Pre-development

1997

Ragnar Tornquist has the original concept idea for the game that will become The Secret World.

Source Ragnar Tornquist’s blog

http://ragnartornquist.com/?p=166



1999

The Longest Journey is wrapped up and Ragnar Tornquist is pitching ideas, including one that will eventually become The Secret World

Source Ragnar Tornquist’s blog

http://ragnartornquist.com/?p=166



Pre-production

2002

Preproduction of the game that will become The Secret World began sometime in 2002, but the team were moved to Dreamfall in mid-2003

Source Ragnar Tornquist’s blog

http://ragnartornquist.com/?p=335



2003

A playable demo of Cabal, which will one day become The Secret World was made ready for E3 ’03. This version was using a different engine to the current version of The Secret World

Source Ragnar Tornquist’s blog

http://ragnartornquist.com/?p=335

The demo/movie was shown at E3 2003 and short description can be found here

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/409/409639p3.html

and here

http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6028574.html?print=1

NB The demo was refered to as The Next Big Thing.

Later, in his blog Ragnar Tornquist confirms that The Next Big Thing = Cabal = The World Online = The Secret World



2005

Funcom announces in the Quarter 3 2005 Financial Statement that Funcom has initiated development of a new MMO known as The World. The World will become The Secret World

Source Funcom Financial report to shareholders for the Third Quarter 2005

http://www.funcom.com/funcom/fronten...3%20report.pdf



Funcom file the name The Secret World as a trademark on Nov 14 2005.

Source US Patent and Trademark Office

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield...tate=bmlqb.2.1



Full Production

2006

June 2006

www.darkdemonscrygaia.com is registered

www.darkdaysarecoming.com is registered

www.amaskedcryadoring.com is registered

www.agrimoddarcanesky.com is registered

www.anygodimarksacred.com is registered

www.adreamysickdragon.com is registered



Ragnar Tornquist first mentions The Secret World in his blog on June 10th

http://ragnartornquist.com/?p=166



The third quarterly report for 2006 states that “The World Online was approved for entry into the first phase of full production”. The team is known to be composed of 20 people with Ragnar Tornquist heading the project.

Source Funcom financial report for the third quarter 2006

http://www.funcom.com/funcom/fronten...Q306report.pdf



The 2006 quarter 4 report states that the team working on The World Online has expanded to 33 people



November 2006 two screenshots of The World Online made using an early version of the graphics engine that will power TSW are leaked to wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TWOscreenshot01.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TWOscreenshot02.jpg

I do not know for sure how old these screenshots are. Ragnar Tornquist hints in his blog that they are from an old and early prototype of The Secret World.

http://ragnartornquist.com/?p=294



2007

Funcom officially announces The Secret World (Formerly Cabal and The World (online)) as its next MMO. The size of the team working on The Secret World is 35 people.

Source Funcom financial report quarter 1 2007

ftp://ftp.funcom.com/media/Age_of_Co...0Q1-report.pdf



Feb 2007

UK gaming magazine Edge carries an a job advert for an unknown Funcom MMO

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...Dreamfall2.jpg

The picture of the girl later turns out to be a related to The Secret World, as the same picture appears in a Funcom presentation in a section on TSW.



March 2007 Funcom is rumoured to be showing off a new MMO at the Game Developers Conference

Source Bluesnews

http://bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.p...threadid=75966

Source Ragnar Tornquist's blog

http://ragnartornquist.com/?cat=13



23 March 2007

Funcom's Annual Report for 2006 contains 1 new piece of concept art and 2 screenshots of The Secret World. The screenshots look far more advanced than the ones leaked to wikipedia.

http://www.funcom.com/funcom/fronten...ual_Report.pdf

Funcom also discuss how TSW production will ramp up as AoC approaches release. Funcom will transfer the AoC team to work on TSW until the team reaches full size in approximately 2008.

In addition to traditional markets (US + Europe) TSW will be targetting the Asian market, and the Beijing office will have a key role in develoment



May7-16, Funcom begins viral marketing strategy as initial advertisement for The Secret World.

The Cry Gaia website timeline for the marketing campaign

http://www.crygaia.com/portal/index....d=16&Itemid=38



May 11th Ragnar Tornquist discuss the launch of the viral marketing campaign for TSW

http://ragnartornquist.com/?p=335



May 11th Funcom publish an official press release about The Secret World

http://www.funcom.com/wsp/funcom/fro...NT&ite m=1004



May 16 www.darkdaysarecoming.com is updated with The Timer that appears to be counting down to Dec 21 2012.



May 16 Funcom present 2007 Quarter 1 financial presentation

ftp://ftp.funcom.com/media/Age_of_Co...esentation.pdf

The presentation includes details of the viral marketing campaign, other details include

Over 100 key gaming people are informed of the launch

There are partnerships with key media

six online sites have been launched



May 21 Ragnar Tornquist heads to Beijing for meetings with the Chinese section of the The Secret World team

http://ragnartornquist.com/?p=339



June 2007

Funcom is advertising for people to work on The Secret World. Positions include

Gameplay programmer

Project Manager Art

3D programmer

Tools programmer

Location artist

Associate producer

Character artist

__________________

Peregrinnus Praecautus



Be on your guard pilgrim

EliasThorne

I only heard about this game yesterday when reading MMO Magazine - looks interesting and ticks a couple of boxes for me.

Given how long its been in development its a shame the MMORPG didn't find it first - this site is my usual first stop for MMO news and now I'm wondering what else I've missed!!

kwai

Looks interesting , but still doesnt look like they have made alot of work to present them selves,  no proper homepage from what i can see,  just a forum.

Bane82

sounds like an interesting idea for sure , and if I can't find big foot in the real world, then maybe I'll find him hiding in this game lol!