Funcom narrows its focus
Funcom will now make two games. The Norwegian studio says it is restructuring to focus only on live operations for Conan Exiles and Dune: Awakening, that it is cutting staff to do it, and that chief executive Rui Casais will leave at the end of the year.
Funcom hasn’t said how many people are affected. Its press release, quoted by GamesIndustry.biz, says the restructure means “reducing the size of the organization and, sadly, saying goodbye to valued colleagues”, and that it “will not share further details until it has concluded.”
Moving from full production into long-term post-launch development and operations requires a different organization.
Rui Casais, Funcom CEO
Dune: Awakening drove the decision
Casais framed the cuts as the end of Dune: Awakening’s build-out. “Dune: Awakening has been the biggest project we have ever undertaken, requiring many years of significant development resources across our studios,” he said. “While we would have wanted everyone who helped build Dune: Awakening to continue with us, we cannot sustain the size and structure required during” full production. Funcom called the game’s June 2025 release the biggest launch in its 32-year history, then laid off staff in October 2025 and closed The Outsiders, the Swedish studio behind Metal: Hellsinger.
Conan Exiles is the older half of the plan. Funcom says the 2018 survival game earned back its development budget in five days, and it recently released an Enhanced edition the studio says it will keep expanding.
Funcom also owns the Conan IP outright, through its purchase of Cabinet Group, the holding company that also held Solomon Kane and Mutant Year Zero.
Conan Exiles, which launched in 2018 and recently got an Enhanced edition, is the other game Funcom will keep. Image: Funcom, via Steam.
Who runs it next
| Rui Casais | Scott Junior | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | CEO, leaving at year end | Chief product officer, incoming CEO |
| Time at Funcom | 22 years, started as a junior programmer | 25 years |
| Recent work | Led the company for 11 years | Executive producer on Dune: Awakening |
Junior said his focus will be “ensuring Funcom is organized in the best way possible to expand these games for many years to come through new content and gameplay.” Casais stays until what Funcom calls the “difficult phase” of the restructure is complete.
Tencent has owned Funcom since 2020 and has spent the past 18 months trimming its portfolio, selling off Secret Mode, Splash Damage and Bulkhead. Funcom avoided that route by shrinking to the two games that pay for it.
