Funcom CFO Resigns

23 Feb 2009 at 17:30:51 by Paul Younger

Funcom's CFO resigns following heavy losses.

Since the launch of Age of Conan the game has been struggling to keep subscribers onboard and Funcom has now reported a fourth quarter loss of $23m USD. Funcom's CFO Olav Sandnes has today resigned but Sandnes will continue in the job until a new CFO has been found. it is unclear whether the latest financial results are the cause of his resignation.

"Olav Sandnes has made important contributions in Funcom, particularlyin respect of developing the Company’s financial reporting, controls and management systems and as a member of the management team", comments Trond Aas, CEO of Funcom.

“Funcom is a Company with a substantial potential based on a unique combination of skill sets in a fast growing global market. I wish Trond Aas and the rest of the organization all the best in realizing the full potential of the Company, comments Olav Sandnes.

Age of Conan has struggled since launch and has been plagued with problems. Analyst Fredrik Thoresen for the DnB NOR Markets now estimates that there are under 100,000 players subscribing to the game according to story on E24. This is a huge drop considering that in August last year Funcom were reporting over 400,000 players.

Commenting on the current age of Conan Subscription base Funcom's Trond Arne Aas added:

"The average subscriber retention for the Age of Conan game has improved in 2009. The subscriber base of Age of Conan has consequentlybeen relatively stable during this period. The average playtime per subscriber has also increased during the last months. The Company continues to invest heavily in both the Age of Conan game and in the new MMOs in development."

Funcom's financial situation is secure with $40m USD in cash as of December 31, 2008 and it continue to concentrate its efforts on improving Age of Conan and also working on its new MMO projects.

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