Funcom shares halve post-Conan

Massively reports that Norwegian developer Funcom's stock has fallen sharply since its fantasy MMO Age of Conan launched in late May.

Funcom's shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange have fallen from a high of USD 54 on launch day, 20th May, to USD 24 at time of writing.

There's speculation that, despite strong initial sales and account sign-ups, investors are concerned at how well the game will retain its players.

Although polished in the early stages, some feel that Age of Conan's content and quality thins out as the game progresses, and that this has led many players to cancel their subscriptions. We gave it the benefit of the doubt in our review.

However, as Massively notes, Funcom's stock had been steady at around USD 25 for months prior to Conan's launch, and it's possible that the USD 54 value was no more than a temporary bubble created around the game's strong performance at pre-order.

We've contacted Funcom for comment, but our personal feeling is that the markets are a little bit emotional, and should have a nice lie down somewhere cool.

Visit the Age of Conan game page for more, and expect a report on the game's progress since launch soon.