Contradicting the “face tech” announcement made a couple days ago, developer Funcom today denied any current plans to bring such technology into Age of Conan.

"While Big Stage may be planning to implement the technology in games soon, it is not currently slated for implementation into Age of Conan," said Funcom.

The confusion seems to have originated from miscommunication and tricky word play. Big Stage had put up a trailer demonstrating the technology with Age of Conan assets, telling viewers to look for it “in-game soon”, but interestingly did not specify if the game would indeed be the violent MMO.

Quite possibly revolutionizing the MMORPG industry, Big Stage Entertainment, GGL Global Gaming and Funcom have announced that players of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will soon be able to bring their own faces and voices into the MMO.

This is made possible through user-provided digital images, which when used with Big Stage’s web-based technology creates a 3D “@ctor”, which can then be customized with accessories. GGL is handling promotion for the feature, with prizes for those who share their “@ctor” the most.

The technology is currently limited to videos and images on the web, though they promise that the “@ctors” users create today will be supported in-game soon.

A teaser trailer for The Secret World, Funcom’s upcoming modern-day MMORPG, has been released, bringing to mind the fact that we all need flaming swords in our homes in case a monster decides to attack us.

More videos are expected soon from the developer. The game is in development for PC and Xbox 360, and has no definite release date.

It has been two years since the fateful day Funcom teased The Secret World, their uber secret MMORPG. The time has finally come when the studio will reveal the game: they will begin to “lift the veil” by showing the MMO behind closed doors at this year’s Game Developers Conference, which runs from March 23-27. Director Ragnar Tornquist, creator of The Longest Journey series, will be on hand to discuss the title.

As far as we know, the MMO will be set in the present day and will strive to “create a detailed world where players feel empowered and part of something big, something mystical and epic.”

The Secret World is in development for PC and Xbox 360.

The economic crisis has hit Funcom hard, as the Age of Conan developer today announced a fourth quarter loss of $23 million, with an overall 2008 net loss of $33.8 million.

In even more bad news for the company, Olav Sandnes, its chief financial officer, has resigned.

The worst news is yet to come: Age of Conan boasted 700,000 subscribers following its May 2008 release, but Norwegian financial group DnB NOR Markets now estimates that subscriptions to the game have fallen below 100,000. This is in line with previous word that Funcom had shut down 63% of the MMO’s servers in January, reducing the game’s worlds from 49 to 18.

The upcoming server mergers for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, the much-hyped MMO, will result in a total of 18 global servers, down from 49 worldwide. This comes after the initial merger of the Bloodspire and Hyperborea servers on January 17; the developer saw no issues and has unveiled the next phase.

The mergers were announced soon after the game’s original director left due to dissatisfaction with the project. Craig Morrison, the new director, has said that the mergers would “ensure the best gameplay experience.”

Funcom notes in this forum post that it hopes to merge the European servers in one go and the US servers in another. No timeline was provided, though.

Bearing bad news for Age of Conan fans, Funcom today confirmed that it has indeed laid off a number of its US employees. The developer cited “ongoing cost-based efficiency and performance initiatives” to be the reason of the layoffs.

While the company didn’t reveal the scale of the layoffs, many are speculating that about 70% of the company’s workforce has been cut, with the custom service and quality service divisions seeing the most job cuts.

The company’s recent blockbuster MMO Age of Conan has been going through some tough times, seeing a sharp decrease in subscribers. Additionally, the game’s director left the project in September, citing dissatisfaction with the title. However, the new director has focused on responding to subscriber feedback, recently releasing a large, free update.

Developer Funcom has revealed that the long-promised DirectX 10 support for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will be a part of the “next major game update” for the MMO.

"We have been determined that the new DirectX 10 functionality would not just be a ‘gimmick’ addition to the game and would add visual quality to the game," wrote new game director Craig Morrison. "We feel that the version we are preparing now for testing does achieve this and in a way that will find the right balance between visuals and performance.”

While no release date was provided, Morrison did note that the next update will feature two new dungeons for high-level players and more.

A huge new update for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has gone live for the MMORPG. It adds the entirely new Cimmerian outdoor region that offers new quests, new characters and a new storyline to enjoy.

The update also adds a new dungeon – the Amphitheater – as well as an “epic monster” that has to be defeated. All game clients will be automatically updated once they login.

As for the future of the game, director Craig Morrison wrote an open letter, stating that they are currently focusing on DX10, more dungeons, item revamps and more.

Following word that Age of Conan is getting a new game director, MTV Multiplayer speaks with Funcom product manager Jorgen Tharaldsen about the recent departure of Gaute Godager.

"I think that the fact that Gaute leaves means that we get a direction which is more player-centric, since [new game director Craig Morrison] is so good at being hands-on with the communities at all times," he said.

Godager was a founding member of Funcom and served as producer on the MMO through its launch before leaving, citing dissatisfaction with the final product.

"We have seen but the start of the evolution of Age of Conan, and out of all the people in Funcom, I can’t think of anyone which could do it better than Craig," said Tharaldsen.