The Secret World sells only 200,000, Funcom moving to smaller-scale development

Funcom, the developer behind the intriguing and inventive MMO The Secret World announced today that they would be stepping back from large scale productions in the future, choosing instead to focus on smaller scale games.

The declaration comes as the company revealed The Secret World has sold just 200,000 copies since its release in July. That may sound like a large number, but it's not particularly impressive for a subscription game which makes most of its money from establishing a long-running community. Especially considering Funcom may have been working on the Secret World in some capacity for a decade.

The news is particularly surprising because more than 500,000 people signed up for the beta, though obviously few stuck around for the retail product. Funcom isn't done with The Secret World, however. They plan to hold events in the future to drive new users to sign up.

Funcom has placed blame for the lackluster sale on the game's relatively poor Metascore (which sits at 72) and is looking to address complaints from players and reviewers.

The Secret World's poor sales are presumably the cause of Funcom's layoffs last week.