Funcom today revealed new details on its upcoming modern-day, real world massively multiplayer online game The Secret World. As a teaser for more reveals to come out of the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle this week, Funcom unveiled three secret societies – the Illuminati, the Dragon and the Templars – all of which will be central to gameplay and the storyline in The Secret World.

Gamers everywhere can also visit the official website at www.darkdaysarecoming.com and complete a unique personality test that will reveal to them what secret society they are most suited to join. Completion of the test will not only allow them to become an initiate of that secret society and thus an important member of the official The Secret World community, it also gives them the chance to win exclusive future beta access to the game. Initiates will also be kept up-to-date on the development of The Secret World.

“The secret societies are integral to The Secret World,” says Producer and Director Ragnar Tørnquist. “Players must eventually pick a side in the conflict. By revealing the three societies – and at the same time keeping some exciting new features under wraps – we provide players with the opportunity to dig deeper into the conspiracies and urban legends, and to learn more about these famous secret societies, before making their final decision when the game launches.”

Funcom is proud to announce that Age of Conan is one of the fastest selling PC games of all time. More than 400.000 gamers have entered Hyboria over the last few days, with almost half coming from the North American market. This amazing figure for a PC game shows that the positive pre-order trend has transferred into actual sales, and people from all over the world are now flocking to the most savage, sexy and brutal MMO ever created.

Over the weekend an astounding amount of concurrent gamers were logged on to the game, making Age of Conan one of the busiest MMOs in the western hemisphere. With stock flying out of several retail chains, Funcom expects the number to increase in the days to come. In addition to the many gamers logging in, there was also substantial traffic to the Age of Conan websites, with more than 2,2 million unique visitors during the last ten days.

As a result of the great launch, players and press have been raving about the unique qualities of the game, and the first 20 reviews give Age of Conan an average score above 90%. The first US reviews are also live, with Gamezone.com giving the game an Editor’ s Choice Award, a 9.4 of 10 score, while heralding Age of Conan as a “ Benchmark MMO” . Sci-Fi.com was also an early mover and gave the game a straight A, stating that “ If Robert E. Howard had been a game designer.., this is the Conan he would have invented.”

“ The initial sales and reviews are very encouraging, and it’ s great to see that so many are enjoying Age of Conan ,” said Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. “ This is just the beginning, and we already look forward to massive updates and cool new features. We believe our focus on making Conan unique and groundbreaking is a key reason for the initial success. This is a focus we will keep and reinforce, and players can expect continued quality and innovation as we enter a new era for the game.”

BUSINESS WIRE