However, due to the success of Conan Exiles in 2017, money flowed back into the company.
Funcom wanted to invest in a “reboot” of The Secret World in 2017.
- The “new game,” Secret World Legends, launched as a free-to-play action MMORPG, but only with some relatively minor changes that mainly veterans noticed.
- The previous “The Secret World” would no longer be developed.
The Secret World is overlooked for the second time in 2017
What was the outcome? That the reboot would likely fail was already apparent after the reactions to the first teaser trailer. It received only 800 likes. The launch trailer performed slightly better – but it didn’t spark great enthusiasm either.
The reboot left the global gaming community largely indifferent.
For newcomers, The Secret World Legends no longer felt fresh. In 2017, it was already 5 years old; the 2012 version had already won no awards for graphics and innovation.
Ultimately, “Secret World Legends” was barely developed further by Funcom after its release. A content expansion with South Africa was released in 2018, which veterans had long awaited, but since then there has been little news about the game.
While Funcom still listed regular updates in their financial reports in 2018, “The Secret World Legends” did not appear prominently in the 3 financial reports of 2019 anymore. It only receives a small column in presentations, noting that “events” are taking place.
On the German homepage of The Secret World, the last news is from June 2019. However, the English homepage still contains more news:
- most revolve around a new single-player spin-off.
- but there are also patch notes for a winter update that announces Krampus Night and promises tougher challenges in Agartha.
From the reactions of the players, it can be seen that the remaining players would rather welcome story updates, new missions, and zones.
What’s next? Currently, a “TV series” is in the works of which we haven’t heard much in a long time. Additionally, there are “single-player games set in the universe of The Secret World.
After Funcom officially ended the MMORPG “The Secret World,” it seems that they have quietly transitioned “The Secret World Legends” largely into maintenance mode. Although patches are still occasionally released, major expansions for the game are unlikely.
Ultimately, a sad fate for an MMORPG that achieved outstanding quality in the way it tells its stories.
For newcomers, The Secret World Legends no longer felt fresh. In 2017, it was already 5 years old; the 2012 version had already won no awards for graphics and innovation.
Ultimately, “Secret World Legends” was barely developed further by Funcom after its release. A content expansion with South Africa was released in 2018, which veterans had long awaited, but since then there has been little news about the game.
While Funcom still listed regular updates in their financial reports in 2018, “The Secret World Legends” did not appear prominently in the 3 financial reports of 2019 anymore. It only receives a small column in presentations, noting that “events” are taking place.
On the German homepage of The Secret World, the last news is from June 2019. However, the English homepage still contains more news:
- most revolve around a new single-player spin-off.
- but there are also patch notes for a winter update that announces Krampus Night and promises tougher challenges in Agartha.
From the reactions of the players, it can be seen that the remaining players would rather welcome story updates, new missions, and zones.
What’s next? Currently, a “TV series” is in the works of which we haven’t heard much in a long time. Additionally, there are “single-player games set in the universe of The Secret World.
After Funcom officially ended the MMORPG “The Secret World,” it seems that they have quietly transitioned “The Secret World Legends” largely into maintenance mode. Although patches are still occasionally released, major expansions for the game are unlikely.
Ultimately, a sad fate for an MMORPG that achieved outstanding quality in the way it tells its stories.
However, due to the success of Conan Exiles in 2017, money flowed back into the company.
Funcom wanted to invest in a “reboot” of The Secret World in 2017.
- The “new game,” Secret World Legends, launched as a free-to-play action MMORPG, but only with some relatively minor changes that mainly veterans noticed.
- The previous “The Secret World” would no longer be developed.
The Secret World is overlooked for the second time in 2017
What was the outcome? That the reboot would likely fail was already apparent after the reactions to the first teaser trailer. It received only 800 likes. The launch trailer performed slightly better – but it didn’t spark great enthusiasm either.
The reboot left the global gaming community largely indifferent.
For newcomers, The Secret World Legends no longer felt fresh. In 2017, it was already 5 years old; the 2012 version had already won no awards for graphics and innovation.
Ultimately, “Secret World Legends” was barely developed further by Funcom after its release. A content expansion with South Africa was released in 2018, which veterans had long awaited, but since then there has been little news about the game.
While Funcom still listed regular updates in their financial reports in 2018, “The Secret World Legends” did not appear prominently in the 3 financial reports of 2019 anymore. It only receives a small column in presentations, noting that “events” are taking place.
On the German homepage of The Secret World, the last news is from June 2019. However, the English homepage still contains more news:
- most revolve around a new single-player spin-off.
- but there are also patch notes for a winter update that announces Krampus Night and promises tougher challenges in Agartha.
From the reactions of the players, it can be seen that the remaining players would rather welcome story updates, new missions, and zones.
What’s next? Currently, a “TV series” is in the works of which we haven’t heard much in a long time. Additionally, there are “single-player games set in the universe of The Secret World.
After Funcom officially ended the MMORPG “The Secret World,” it seems that they have quietly transitioned “The Secret World Legends” largely into maintenance mode. Although patches are still occasionally released, major expansions for the game are unlikely.
Ultimately, a sad fate for an MMORPG that achieved outstanding quality in the way it tells its stories.
The MMORPG The Secret World (PC) launched in 2012 under unfortunate circumstances, and in 2017 it was supposed to be revived as “Secret World Legends.” However, in 2020, our author Schuhmann concludes disillusionedly: It was in vain.
What is The Secret World? The Secret World is probably the best unsuccessful MMORPG of the last decade. We called it on MeinMMO in 2014 “the best single-player MMO you never played”.
The special thing about the game is the story and the way stories are told.
The Secret World takes seemingly well-known horror stories, spices them up with depth and humor, and tells them in an unconventional way.
Legends and horror stories are true in this world, but the game uses this “raw material” creatively. It repeatedly breaks with well-known narrative patterns.
The Secret World can frighten players with an atmospheric classic horror story about damned souls, but it can also make them smile with a business-savvy mummy.
The quests are a similarly daring mix: The Secret World sometimes requires players to go into the browser and search for specific clues to progress in a mission.
Why did the MMORPG perform so poorly? The release of “The Secret World” in July 2012 was already under a bad star:
- The developer Funcom had upset many hardcore MMORPG fans with the bumpy release of “Age of Conan” (2008). The Conan MMORPG had raised high expectations but ultimately disappointed.
- A financial scandal surrounded the release of The Secret World: The then CEO of Funcom allegedly had a premonition that Secret World would flop and therefore sold his shares at a high price before the flop became publicly known and the shares fell. This brought him trouble and an indictment for insider trading.
- Additionally, The Secret World was released between Guild Wars 2 and Diablo 3, competing against heavyweight titles.
The Secret World also had some peculiarities that made entry rough:
- The combat system was perceived as clunky.
- Players had to wrap their heads around the skill system.
Somehow, The Secret World failed to generate a “positive buzz,” unlike Guild Wars 2, which achieved this for years. On Metacritic, it stood at 74 out of 100. This was not a recommendation to check out the MMORPG, especially since Guild Wars 2 looked so much better with 90%.
When the flood of new Western MMORPGs began to wane around 2015, some discovered the “hidden gem” The Secret World for themselves. However, the content supply of the MMORPG had already become challenging by then, leaving little incentive to continue playing after completing the story.
Moreover, after the atmospheric beginner zone, The Secret World had a spike in difficulty that forced players to play their characters effectively if they didn’t want to die constantly. Those who just wanted to enjoy the story and play casually quickly hit a wall: The Secret World required a closer engagement with the mechanics.
This was supposed to bring the turnaround: Funcom had fallen into financial trouble in the meantime. In 2015, the Norwegians were close to bankruptcy.
For a while, it looked like the commercial flop of The Secret World and a strange LEGO game would spell the end for the studio. Certainly, the financial crunch did not bode well for the continued development of The Secret World.
From the reactions of the players, it can be seen that the remaining players would rather welcome story updates, new missions, and zones.
What’s next? Currently, a “TV series” is in the works of which we haven’t heard much in a long time. Additionally, there are “single-player games set in the universe of The Secret World.
After Funcom officially ended the MMORPG “The Secret World,” it seems that they have quietly transitioned “The Secret World Legends” largely into maintenance mode. Although patches are still occasionally released, major expansions for the game are unlikely.
Ultimately, a sad fate for an MMORPG that achieved outstanding quality in the way it tells its stories.
For newcomers, The Secret World Legends no longer felt fresh. In 2017, it was already 5 years old; the 2012 version had already won no awards for graphics and innovation.
Ultimately, “Secret World Legends” was barely developed further by Funcom after its release. A content expansion with South Africa was released in 2018, which veterans had long awaited, but since then there has been little news about the game.
While Funcom still listed regular updates in their financial reports in 2018, “The Secret World Legends” did not appear prominently in the 3 financial reports of 2019 anymore. It only receives a small column in presentations, noting that “events” are taking place.
On the German homepage of The Secret World, the last news is from June 2019. However, the English homepage still contains more news:
- most revolve around a new single-player spin-off.
- but there are also patch notes for a winter update that announces Krampus Night and promises tougher challenges in Agartha.
From the reactions of the players, it can be seen that the remaining players would rather welcome story updates, new missions, and zones.
What’s next? Currently, a “TV series” is in the works of which we haven’t heard much in a long time. Additionally, there are “single-player games set in the universe of The Secret World.
After Funcom officially ended the MMORPG “The Secret World,” it seems that they have quietly transitioned “The Secret World Legends” largely into maintenance mode. Although patches are still occasionally released, major expansions for the game are unlikely.
Ultimately, a sad fate for an MMORPG that achieved outstanding quality in the way it tells its stories.
However, due to the success of Conan Exiles in 2017, money flowed back into the company.
Funcom wanted to invest in a “reboot” of The Secret World in 2017.
- The “new game,” Secret World Legends, launched as a free-to-play action MMORPG, but only with some relatively minor changes that mainly veterans noticed.
- The previous “The Secret World” would no longer be developed.
The Secret World is overlooked for the second time in 2017
What was the outcome? That the reboot would likely fail was already apparent after the reactions to the first teaser trailer. It received only 800 likes. The launch trailer performed slightly better – but it didn’t spark great enthusiasm either.
The reboot left the global gaming community largely indifferent.
For newcomers, The Secret World Legends no longer felt fresh. In 2017, it was already 5 years old; the 2012 version had already won no awards for graphics and innovation.
Ultimately, “Secret World Legends” was barely developed further by Funcom after its release. A content expansion with South Africa was released in 2018, which veterans had long awaited, but since then there has been little news about the game.
While Funcom still listed regular updates in their financial reports in 2018, “The Secret World Legends” did not appear prominently in the 3 financial reports of 2019 anymore. It only receives a small column in presentations, noting that “events” are taking place.
On the German homepage of The Secret World, the last news is from June 2019. However, the English homepage still contains more news:
- most revolve around a new single-player spin-off.
- but there are also patch notes for a winter update that announces Krampus Night and promises tougher challenges in Agartha.
From the reactions of the players, it can be seen that the remaining players would rather welcome story updates, new missions, and zones.
What’s next? Currently, a “TV series” is in the works of which we haven’t heard much in a long time. Additionally, there are “single-player games set in the universe of The Secret World.
After Funcom officially ended the MMORPG “The Secret World,” it seems that they have quietly transitioned “The Secret World Legends” largely into maintenance mode. Although patches are still occasionally released, major expansions for the game are unlikely.
Ultimately, a sad fate for an MMORPG that achieved outstanding quality in the way it tells its stories.
