FunCom: "Pfft, we can do a LEGO MMO better..."

[luckton]

http://www.funcom.com/news/funcom_to_develop_massively_multiplayer_online_game_based_on_lego_minifigur

FUNCOM TO DEVELOP MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE GAME BASED ON LEGO® MINIFIGURES
Published on (2012-06-28)

– Funcom signs license agreement with the LEGO Group to develop MMO game based on the hugely popular LEGO® Minifigures line of collectible play materials –
Durham, USA – June 28th, 2012 – Funcom, a world leading independent developer and publisher of online games, is excited to announce that the company has signed a license agreement with the LEGO Group, one of the world’s most successful manufacturers of play materials, to develop a massively multiplayer online game based on the hugely popular LEGO® Minifigures franchise.

LEGO® Minifigures are the inhabitants of an unimaginable number of spectacular creations put together by both kids and grown-ups over the past several decades. Whether it is a knight in shining armor, a brave firefighter or just an oddball in a gorilla suit, these figures breath life into elaborately constructed cities, castles and even space stations around the world. The LEGO Group estimates that 340 million minifigures will be produced in 2012 (including minifigures not part of the LEGO® Minifigures collectibles).

The massively multiplayer online game that Funcom will develop based on the LEGO® Minifigures franchise will focus on maximum accessibility. Funcom and the LEGO Group will work together to make the game available to consumers in their online channels and will be coordinating activities to provide a broad and enhanced experience for the product line. The game will be a prominent part of the LEGO® Minifigures online experience which already has millions of unique visitors per month.

“The market for family-friendly online experiences intended for children and youngsters is brimming with potential,” says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. “Being able to work with a world-renowned brand such as the LEGO® brand to develop an MMO for this audience is incredibly exciting to us as game developers and for Funcom as a company. This is source material we all know and love and we simply cannot wait to get started working with the LEGO Group on realizing this exciting project.”

For more information about Funcom please visit http://www.funcom.com. More information about LEGO® Minifigures can be found on the official website.

Guess they're already planning for their post-Secret World crash-landing 

[Amaron]

They sure are good at convincing people to burn money.  Of course LEGO chose NetDevil the first time around.   Guess they're just an easy target.

[TripleDES]

Fuck LEGO. Where's AO2?!

[Shatter]

no...no they cant

[Stormwaltz]

I'm still perplexed why Lego hasn't contracted Mojang to make their MMG.

[SurfD]

I'm still perplexed why Lego hasn't contracted Mojang to make their MMG.

Indeed, they already have Minecraft themed Lego kits, it's not that much farther.

[KallDrexx]

I thought Funcom was running extremely low on cash reserves and getting pretty high on needing Dark Days to do well to keep everything in check.  So where do they have the money to start a whole new MMO project.

[Amaron]

So where do they have the money to start a whole new MMO project.

Where the hell did they get the money to start The Secret World?

[Modern Angel]

I'm telling you dudes, Norway does weird shit to comp investment money put into domestic companies. The odds of Funcom being around long after we're all dead are equal to the odds that they crash and burn after TSW.

[Amaron]

I'm telling you dudes, Norway does weird shit to comp investment money put into domestic companies. The odds of Funcom being around long after we're all dead are equal to the odds that they crash and burn after TSW.

So basically Funcom exists because it's funded by the state?

[Modern Angel]

No. The oil companies which fund Funcom are.

(That's actually not specifically true. I don't know all the specifics and mechanics. I just know that there are big incentives for large companies to reinvest in smaller ones in Norway.)

[Samprimary]

I feel uniquely qualified and have plenty of experience in exactly the field of making a lego mmo as part of a last-scratch studio initiative.

[Sky]

I'm still perplexed why Lego hasn't contracted Mojang to make their MMG.

Indeed, they already have Minecraft themed Lego kits, it's not that much farther.

I would wager Mojang would just laugh at the idea of creating an mmo. Why get involved with such an obviously losing proposition when they've got a nice niche all set up? Especially taking on IP overlords to muck things up and cut into profits?

[Venkman]

Depends on how you define "MMO". Some of the MC worlds can support quite a few people :)

[Xanthippe]

Minecraft is what I expected the Lego mmo to be like.

[Shannow]

Needs to be more building. All those Lego Star Wars games etc have turned the kids away from what is really fun in Lego which is building stuff.

Allow player housing, but instead its housing you build. You collect bricks, palettes, special bricks etc through adventuring....then again maybe I should just play minecraft?  My son plays but it appears to be only 1x1 bricks? Seems painful (and I'm the guy who built a 30k piece Death Star in Blockland)