Funcom enlists players to try out the closed beta of the new MMO.
Funcom is working with the LEGO Group to develop a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game based on the hugely popular LEGO Minifigures franchise. The game developer behind Age of Conan and The Secret World is enlisting gamers to play the closed beta of the online game, which will launch in 2014.
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 were 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.”
This marks the second effort to turn LEGO into an online game. The LEGO Group previously worked with NetDevil on LEGO Universe, but that game was shut down after launching as a paid subscription game, switching to free-to-play and then not having a way to generate revenue from its 2 million players.
