Posted in: Funcom, Games, Video Games | Tagged: conan, conan the barbarian

Funcom Acquires Full Control Of Conan The Barbarian IPs

Some cool news this morning for Conan The Barbarian fans as Funcom has officially acquired the rights to the franchise and more. Specifically, the company acquired the Cabinet Group, which has been the home to dozens of IPs over the years including Conan, Mutant Year Zero, and Solomon Kane for starters. While the finer details of the deal were not revealed we do know that they have essentially taken control of the company and their entire portfolio, which will be incorporated into the IP studio and Funcom subsidiary Heroic Signatures. We also know that Fredrik Malmberg, co-founder and CEO of Cabinet Group, will continue with the new company as President of Heroic Signatures.

While our news is clearly covering the games side of things, which includes a new project in the works that they haven't revealed details on yet, this stretches far beyond gaming. Heroic Signatures will be carrying on on the licensing deals with companies such as Penguin Random House, Panini, Titan Books, Monolith, and Funcom. Marvel Entertainment is publishing a new Conan comic book every month, and there is also a Netflix series currently in the works for Conan, those projects are not going away, they're simply going to have a new company overseeing the IP. We'll see if this breeds any new life into the franchise since Conan The Barbarian was highlighted as the biggest piece of the acquisition, as longtime fans would probably love to see new toys, maybe even an animated series. But we know for a fact Funcom will be focusing on the game sector most of all. We have a couple of quotes from the announcement for you here.

"We are currently overseeing the development of an unannounced game which will combine many of the characters in the Robert E. Howard universe," says Funcom CEO Rui Casais. "And if you combine Funcom's knowledge of games with Heroic Signatures' knowledge of the TV/entertainment, publishing, and licensing industries, it makes us perfectly placed to take this venture to the next level. It's exciting times ahead for us and for fans of the IPs."

"We took Cabinet Group as far as we could as an independent studio, but in order to achieve further growth, we were in need of bigger financial investments and infrastructure," Malmberg explains. "The entertainment industry is rapidly becoming more 'techified'. We've seen brilliant examples of how games have incorporated IPs in innovative ways to reach audience numbers that vastly surpass previous levels. What Fortnite has done with The Avengers, for instance, or the impact a live in-game concert can have on awareness. We are looking forward to sit down with other entertainment companies who share our vision and wish to take part in the exciting journey we have ahead," he says.

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