In 2012, The Secret World was released, an MMORPG like no other. Now, in 2023, it is virtually dead. What actually happened to the game? MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus looks back at the past.
The Secret World was the first MMORPG to captivate me permanently since Ragnarok Online and World of Warcraft. Since then, only WildStar has managed to grab me in such a significant way.
However, three of these four names have faded into oblivion today, at least for us in Europe. Ragnarok only plays a larger role in Korea and Brazil, WildStar has been dead since 2018, and even MeinMMO demon Cortyn shed a tear for the MMORPG.
Today, hardly anyone talks about The Secret World anymore. It no longer has a significant number of players. Yet, hardly anything can match the world of this MMORPG.
The trailer for The Secret World showcases the particularly dark and slightly bizarre world:
Story and Atmosphere: Lovecraft-Horror at its Best
What is The Secret World? Imagine a world like ours. Only, every unspeakable horror and conspiracy theory is true. Everything that Alex Jones says is true – and more.
Templars from the secret order in London, the Dragon from Seoul, and the Illuminati from New York – every secret organization that secretly pulls the strings in the shadows of the world exists. And you play as one of its members.
The Secret World largely abandoned classes in the past. Instead, the weapons you carried determined your role: with combinations of firearms, melee weapons, and magic, you could become a tank, healer, or DPS hero – or something in between.
What made The Secret World special: However, to avoid being just a level 39 accountant of the Illuminati, the world of the MMORPG is filled with horrors and dangers. Specifically: with everything that horror author H.P. Lovecraft invented:
- The fictional town of Innsmouth is overrun by something like zombies, twisted by the tentacle-god Cthulhu.
- In Egypt, you help a mummy with quests.
- Some bees ensure that you can’t die.
It sounds just as bizarre as it played. Story and atmosphere were what The Secret World did better than almost any other MMORPG. And even better than most single-player RPGs that I know.
For this reason alone, The Secret World counts – to this day – among the best MMORPGs that are also fun to play solo and among the best story MMORPGs:
Hours of Quests That Add Depth to the World
The unique atmosphere partly lies in the fact that the world wasn’t just paved with generic quests. Sure, there were the occasional classic: “Kill 12 zombie dogs with a flamethrower” quest.
But The Secret World had a special kind of tasks that could not be repeated: investigations, or “Investigations.” Based on a few clues, real websites had to be visited via the browser, uncovering details that would advance the quest a step further.
This brought life to the world, filled it with details, and built it up like a good book. Just like the excellent environment, which always triggered a sense of unease in me. Everything simply came together as a coherent whole.
The Secret World has remained in my memory so well, that I reinstalled it in 2022 for its 10th anniversary – my probably biggest MMORPG mistake of the year, as I didn’t stick with it for long.
From TSW to Secret World Legends – And hardly anyone plays anymore
The MMORPG did not die suddenly, but gradually over the years. Since 2012, there have been only a few peaks of players, at least on Steam (via steamcharts). Overall, the number of players has steadily decreased. It should be noted that the game also had its own launcher, the numbers of which I cannot provide.
Five years after release, in July 2017, The Secret World became the new MMORPG Secret World Legends. Instead of relying on a subscription model, developer Funcom made the game Free2Play and offered additional premium services.
In fact, that brought back over 3,700 players, but not for long. The Secret World became two dead MMORPGs and that hasn’t changed to this day. In December 2022, the game had a sad average of 57 players, with a maximum of 124 at the same time.
There is no single reason why The Secret World died. Rather, there are several. For one, a world full of Cthulhu myths was very specifically aimed at nerds and literature freaks. Something that MMORPGs aren’t particularly suited for, as they rely on having many players.
On the other hand, The Secret World simply offers little replay value. Once you have played through the story, there is little incentive to continue. There are raids and dungeons for the endgame, but The Secret World was never hardcore enough for excessive min-maxing to pay off. Besides, the overlap between Lovecraft fanboys and hardcore MMORPG players is even smaller than each part separately.
Today, the German blog of Secret World no longer publishes news, the last one was in October 2020. On the English website, there are still updates with a few lines of text per news.
Another service game has claimed Funcom’s attention since 2017: Conan Exiles, which now even offers magic:
Nevertheless, the servers are still online, and anyone can play. How much the MMORPG is still financially worthwhile for the developers can probably only be said by Funcom itself. However, shortly after the release of Secret World Legends, they had a new game: Conan Exiles.
After The Secret World fell short of expectations, Conan Exiles was a true blessing. The game literally saved the studio from ruin:
Conan Exiles: How naked barbarians saved an MMO studio
However, no one should really expect any major content updates for The Secret World anymore. After all, the studio has announced that the game will appear as a pen and paper in the D&D rules of the 5th Edition. We’ll see if more than 124 people will play that.
