This is indeed a negative sign, and although Mr. Sandnes said, according to Norwegian financial web news site E24 (http://e24.no/boers-og-finans/article2942422.ece) it was "mostly due to him, and not the company", this is either very bad timing or, in part at least, due to the poor financial results Funcom have shown as a result of AoC's mediocre ability to keep its players.

can't put all your eggs in one basket, especially in the high risk MMO basket.

It's all a load of BS. The CFO has nothing to do with subscriber base and the success of a game. He's just ducking out and maybe trying to help out by taking some of the flak from the investors/shareholders. AoC's mediocrity, buggy launch, and bad timing (WAR probably sucked a lot of people away from AoC right when AoC needed them to stick around) are all at play here. I couldn't believe how unpolished the game was (reminded me of Vanguard).

@Dave
Definitely true...especially when they don't really have a proven track record of strong successes. I know Anarchy Online's still around but it served a niche and they didn't handle customer support/updates very well there either.

The most amazing thing I'd seen in an MMO was what they did at Funcom. They patched the game and REQUIRED you to update to a point release of DirectX. What game does that? It's not like they launched the game with the requirement. They patched it months later and required it. I'll be they lost a bunch of people then who were barely loyal and took that as a sign of just how much Funcom cared about their installed base. Mismanagement through and through.

AoC is a truly amazing and enjoyable game, I was there for launch, waited a few months, and am now a happy subscriber once again.

I find the game more enjoyable than any MMO I've played "hardcorely" and I've player quite a few.

I would hate to see it die.