GameIndustry.biz is reporting that Funcom has been awarded a $262,000 grant to help create Board with the World, a free-to-play social MMO based around extreme sports. Erling Ellingsen, the director of communications at Funcom, said the game will focus on snowboarding at first, but different sports may be added later.

"We also want this to be a social world rich with different types of media content and pop-cultural elements such as music, video and even fashion," he said, noting that Funcom expects to start working on an initial prototype in January 2010.

Fantasy MMO based on Conan the Barbarian? Check. Upcoming creepy MMO filled with conspiracy theories and secret societies? Check. Free-to-play extreme sports MMO? It looks like Funcom can now check that off their list as well.

According to Norwegian business site E24, Funcom plans to cut 20 percent of its workforce in order to cut costs, which will delay the release of The Secret World by several months. GameIndustry.biz spotted the story and reported that Funcom is attempting to shift the bulk of its 300 workers to Canada to take advantage of lower salaries and "a 37.5 percent salary reimbursement from the state of Quebec."

It's no secret (har har) that we're fans of The Secret World. We recently awarded the game the title of "Most Original Setting" in our first PAX Awards. While we wait to see what the future holds for the MMO, check out our summary of what we know so far about The Secret World.

This year we decided to cover PAX more aggressively than we have in the past and one of the by-products of that choice is our first annual PAX Awards. Even though the convention focuses on tabletop, PC and console games -- MMOs were featured extensively, demonstrating that they continue to become more and more popular in the gaming world. As such, due to our MMO focus we had to be extremely selective about what kind of awards we gave out and who we gave them to. Ultimately, this was not an easy task as all of our nominations are great games. This was especially difficult when it came to selecting the winner for "Best in Show". In the end, tough decisions were made and it's time to reveal those decisions to the world. Without further ado, the Winners!

Still in the heated stages of alpha development, The Secret World is capturing the attention of gamers around the world. Widely publicized and fueled by clever viral marketing campaigns, the upcoming Urban Fantasy/Horror MMO is finally starting to reveal some of its secrets, thanks to recent gaming conventions like Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) and Games Developers Conference (GDC). Six months ago, all we had were a handful of rumors and some outdated, leaked screenshots. Coupled with a few cryptic website domains and a mysterious alternate reality game (ARG), The Secret World's developers had the gaming community right where they wanted it: tightly-wound and frothing at the mouth for anything that might explain what this new MMO is all about.

The GDC 2009 (San Francisco, CA) last spring marked the first substantial round of sneak-peek media and rough explanations of TSW's theme and game world. Tiny bits of information trickled in over the next few months, but it wasn't until PAX 2009, in Seattle earlier this month, that a few of those curtain threads we've been pulling on finally began to unravel; ZAM scored an interview with Ragnar Tørnquist, Producer and Director of TSW, offering more answers than we've heard in quite some time. In this special feature, we look at the big picture and tie it all together; both past and present. Whether you're looking for a synopsis or just a single place to start learning about The Secret World, this is what we know so far…

Funcom has signed a deal with Geomerics to use the company's Enlighten lighting techology in both The Secret World and Rise of the Godslayer, the first Age of Conan expansion. According to Geomerics' Web site, "Enlighten is the only truly real-time radiosity lighting product for games. It allows you the freedom to create dramatic and interactive worlds with fully dynamic lighting."

A demo was shown at GamesCom last month demonstrating how Enlighten will be used in Rise of the Godslayer. "It’s truly exciting to use Enlighten and keep on pushing the envelope of graphical immersion in MMO-gaming by creating heart-pounding and stunningly realistic experiences for our gamers," Funcom CTO Rui Caisas said. You can read the full announcement after the jump.

This year we decided to cover PAX more aggressively than we have in the past and one of the by-products of that choice is our first annual PAX Awards. Even though the convention focuses on tabletop, PC and console games, MMOs were featured extensively, demonstrating they continue to become more and more popular in the gaming world. As such, due to our MMO focus we had to be extremely selective about what kind of awards we gave out and who we gave them to; however, we’re happy with the end result and we hope that you, our readers and the recipients of these awards will be as well. So without further ado, the Nominees!

Last week at PAX we had our first look at the latest project being developed by Funcom, "The Secret World". Words cannot express how we already feel about this game. Funcom has created one of the coolest premises for an MMO that we've seen to date and combined it with years of experience and an enhanced Age of Conan game engine. Enjoy our interview and stay tuned for an upcoming article with even more information!

Ragnar Tormquisc: My name is Ragnar Tormquisc and I'm the Producer Director on The Secret World.

Martin Bruusgaard: I'm Martin Bruusgaard, and I'm the Lead Designer.

ZAM: First one I'm going to ask; can you tell us a little bit about the individual persistent elements that will exist in the game?

Martin: The important thing to mention is that we don't have classes and we don't have levels. We have a very... linear progression, very result-based. It's all about gathering items and equipment, and also different powers. It's all about playing how you want to play and gathering the powers that matter to you, that let you play how you want to play. If you want to be a healer, then you gather the healer powers, and if you want to be a tank, you can gather the tank powers. You can also create hybrids. It's also important to say that you can design different powers to work with different powers, so you and your buddy can create specs that work well with each other, that feed each other. So, in that way, you can become very good at something very quickly, but to be able to master all of the powers and have a 'spec' for every situation - that will take a long time. So it's quick to get into the game and excel at something, but to be able to have all the tools, that will take a long time. So it's a very open progression in that way.

There's been some major developments today for The Secret World, Funcom's upcoming MMO that features some horrific undertones as players face an ancient evil using everything from black magic to modern firearms. To start things off, a post on Funcom's Twitter page announced that "the great three have appeared, take the test, choose your path!" The tweet pointed readers to the Secret World Web site, www.darkdaysarecoming.com, which has been updated with an initiation test.

The test evaluates which secret society is best suited for your personality and beliefs. The societies are the Templars, the Illuminati and the Dragon. Once you've completed the test and become an initiate of one of the groups, you'll have the chance to win beta access to The Secret World, as well earn in-game items and get a package of wallpapers and avatars. You'll also receive updates about the game.

To make things even more interesting, the Norwegian site Dagbladet has posted the second trailer for The Secret World that shows a girl fighting a creature on a playground. The article also has some new screenshots and concept art. In case you missed the first trailer, you can view it on the game's Web site. The Secret World has been kept tightly under wraps, but keep an eye out for more news this weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo.