Funcom buys Conan IP

Funcom has bought the Conan intellectual property and announced a new game that combines characters from the Robert E. Howard universe.

The Age of Conan and Conan Exiles developer – now owned by Tencent – bought Cabinet Group, which held dozens of intellectual properties, including Conan the Barbarian, Mutant Year Zero and Solomon Kane.

It plans to merge these intellectual properties into the IP studio Heroic Signatures.

Funcom CEO Rui Casais discussed one unannounced project already in development:

“We are currently overseeing the development of an unannounced game which will combine many of the characters in the Robert E. Howard universe,” Casais said.

“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.”

So, which characters are in the Robert E. Howard universe? There’s Conan himself, of course. Then there’s Red Sonya, Dark Agnes, Kull of Atlantis, Thulsa Doom, the aforementioned Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn and plenty more.

The note to press mentions “what Fortnite has done with The Avengers” as potential inspiration for how to take all this IP forward. Perhaps we’ll see a live in-game concert headlined by Conan at some point.