Video game developer Funcom opens a studio in Bucharest

The new Funcom office in Bucharest will be open by the end of this summer. The studio will initially serve as the company’s headquarters for quality assurance, with plans in place to expand to other areas of game development over time.

Funcom will bring quality assurance in-house by opening a new branch in Bucharest to serve as its QA headquarters by end-September 2021.

The new studio has already begun its hiring process, and new employees can look forward to working on titles such as Conan Exiles, Metal: Hellsinger and the upcoming Dune survival game.

“The Romanian gaming scene is flourishing, and Bucharest, in particular, is home to many talented people in the tech and gaming industry”, says Funcom CEO Rui Casais. “With our continued growth and increased level of ambition, assuring that we have top-quality QA is of the utmost importance. We are therefore very excited to be able to expand to this region with one of the most-crucial parts of the development process and we are even planning on adding more functions to this studio over time.”

Funcom was founded in 1993 and is by far biggest game developer in Norway. It is best known for online multiplayer games such as Conan Exiles (2017), Secret World Legends (2012), Age of Conan (2008) and Anarchy Online (2001), and is currently working on a new, massive survival game, set in the Dune universe. Interest in Dune is expected to surge after the release of what’s expected to be a blockbuster Hollywood movie directed by Denis Villeneuve later this year.

In 2020, Funcom became part of the Tencent Games family. Tencent Games is the leading global platform for game development, publishing, and operations. Together with its studios and partners, Tencent Games is dedicated to offering high-quality interactive entertainment experiences for all players across the globe. This backing has enabled Funcom to staff up significantly and increase investment in upcoming titles.

In addition to its Bucharest expansion, Funcom also announces it has bought a majority stake in the Swedish game developer, The Outsiders, securing the company a foothold in Stockholm. Funcom already has offices in Oslo, Lisbon and Raleigh, North Carolina in the U.S.

Instrumental in planning Funcom’s expansion to Bucharest was Funcom Chief Human Resources Officer Grigoriada Stroe. She has over a decade of experience in the Romanian gaming industry, and before taking on her Funcom role in March, was the Eastern Europe HR & Operations Director at Ubisoft. Stroe said that even before joining Funcom, its reputation was that of a company constantly punching above its weight.

“Now, the level of ambition has increased immensely. With Tencent Games’ backing, we intend to establish ourselves firmly in a higher weight class, and the Bucharest office is a central part of that ambition. We will start off by establishing the new studio as a modern and forceful quality assurance department, and from there, we will expand into other areas of development. Employees can look forward to joining an agile and passionate company of gamers, with an open and transparent communication style, and a high focus on maintaining a good work/life balance. Add to that the prospect of working on the upcoming Dune game, it makes for an incredibly exciting time to start working at Funcom,” says Grigoriada Stroe, Chief Human Resources Officer Funcom.