Investigators Raid Norwegian Game Studio

Investigators Raid Norwegian Game Studio

The Oslo headquarters of MMO developer Funcom found itself under siege this morning, as Norwegian economic crime unit Økokrim launches an investigation into suspected infringement of the provisions of the Securities Trading Act revolving the 2012 launch of The Secret World.

The charge, which can be read in full at the Oslo Stock Exchange website, calls into question the financial information given the market regarding paranormal MMO The Secret World from August 2011 to two months after the game’s July 2012 launch. Økokrim also suspects the company may not have maintained proper financial logs of the period in question.

According to reports out of Norway, officers from Økokrim were present as employees arrived at Funcom’s Oslo headquarters this morning. The officers reportedly entered the building with cardboard boxes, which they loaded with documents and packed into a van.

The charge states that Funcom is fully cooperating with Økokrim. The company was briefly delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange earlier today, but has since been reinstated.

This isn’t the first time Norwegian authorities have investigated trading violations at Funcom. In September of 2012, two months after the launch of The Secret World, former CEO Trond Aas was under scrutiny for an incredibly convenient title change that allowed him to offload his company stock prior to the game’s release. It’s likely the current investigation has ties to the previous.

We’ve reached out to Funcom for comment on the situation, and will update this post should they respond.


The Cheapest NBN 1000 Plans

Looking to bump up your internet connection and save a few bucks? Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Kotaku, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


6 responses to “Investigators Raid Norwegian Game Studio”