Village Gamer

Funcom is thrilled to announce that the hugely anticipated modern-day massively multiplayer online game ‘The Secret World’ officially launched worldwide today. What many are calling one of the smoothest launches in MMO history actually started Friday last week when Early Access began, opening the doors to the online world of myths, legends and conspiracies for all pre-order customers to enjoy during the weekend. Launch happened smoothly and hordes of gamers have so far enjoyed ‘The Secret World’ and its fresh take on the MMO genre.

The first press reviews are starting to surface, and so far the reviews are very positive. Hyper Magazine has given the game a 9/10 score, saying “… this could be the most important MMO since ‘World of Warcraft’”. NowGamer awarded the game a 8.3 out of 10 score, praising the game’s excellent graphics saying the “… DirectX 11 visuals challenge the limits of what we’d credit an MMO as capable of achieving.” Other reviews hitting today include 5/6 from both VG and Dagbladet, two of the biggest mainstream newspapers in Scandinavia, as well as a 9/10 from PC Powerplay. Looking at the incredible number of comments on forums and social media channels, feedback from players has also been overwhelmingly positive so far. The game is receiving praise for breaking new grounds for the MMO genre, combining technical and gameplay innovation with superior high quality production values.

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“We are incredibly proud of what we have created with The Secret World,” says Creative Director and Senior Producer Ragnar Tørnquist. “This is exactly the game we wanted to make, our vision has been fully realized, and we have never compromised on that vision. When the whole team uses their spare time to play a game they have spent their entire day working on, you know you have created something very, very special.”

‘The Secret World’ presents players with a modern-day alternate reality where all the myths, legends and conspiracies of our world are true, and where hellish monsters threaten real-world locations such as Transylvania, Egypt and New England. When first entering the game players must enlist in a secret society – the Illuminati, the Dragon or the Templars – and engage in a battle not only for the future of our world, but also for the power to control its governments and corporations to further their cause. ‘The Secret World’ has been recognized widely for its new take on the MMO formula. Not only is it set in a unique modern-day setting, the game completely does away with confinements such as classes and levels. Storytelling is also taken to a whole new level and the game introduces engaging missions unlike anything seen before in MMOs. Public interest in the game has been formidable with 1.5 million gamers all over the world registered to beta test ‘The Secret World’ prior to launch, breaking all previous Funcom records.

‘The Secret World’ is developed by Funcom and co-published by EA Partners, a division of Electronic Arts Inc., and is rated M for Mature by the ESRB.