Funcom is stirring up the rivalry of the three secret societies of The Secret World early with the launch of The Secret War, a browser-based social experience that could win one lucky player a chance to visit Funcom’s Montreal studio. Starting today, players can join The Secret War and help increase their chosen societies influence and track the progress of their rival societies. Players can then recruit agents from their Facebook friends to carry out missions to climb the ranks of your secret society and earn rewards that can be used in The Secret World at launch on June 19th.

Players can also earn a number of other prizes by playing such as access to the upcoming Beta Weekends, a chance to have your name embedded in the game at launch and even win a trip to Montreal to meet The Secret World developers.

Head over to The Secret War website to get started. Additional details are available via The Secret War FAQ.

Funcom launches ‘The Secret War’ broswer-based social experience

Durham, USA – April 18th, 2012 – Funcom is excited to announce the launch of ‘The Secret War’, a browser-based online social experience inspired by the conflict between the secret societies in Funcom’s upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game ‘The Secret World’. Starting today ‘The Secret War’ will run as a campaign where players get to actively spread the influence of their secret society in a highly interactive experience that tracks each secret society’s level of power in the world.

CLICK HERE TO PLAY ‘THE SECRET WAR’

Players start by taking a unique personality to determine what secret society they belong to. After joining a secret society, players are immediately placed in the middle of the secret war and can start recruiting agents to their cause through their Facebook friends list. Players will have to deploy agents to different countries to increase the influence of their secret society in those regions.

As you assist your secret society in their bid for world domination, you will climb their ranks and unlock a wealth of exclusive rewards that can be used in ‘The Secret World’ MMO at launch, such as clothes, weapons, elixirs and more. Players can also unlock guaranteed access to the upcoming Beta Weekends, and can win a trip to Montreal to meet the developers of ‘The Secret World’. One of the more exclusive prizes is the opportunity to have your name embedded into the game at launch.

“One of the most interesting features of ‘The Secret World’ is the three profoundly different secret societies that players can join,” says Funcom SVP of Sales & Marketing Morten Larssen. “Since we first announced the game we have gradually revealed more details about them, and what we have seen is that hundreds of thousands of gamers in our community have come to identify with them and form a loyal bond to other community members belonging to the same society. With ‘The Secret War’ experience we are excited about the prospect of allowing for even more community interaction and engagement.”

‘The Secret World’ is consistently mentioned as one of the most anticipated online games in development, and over 750,000 gamers are now registered for the ongoing beta testing. Feedback from media who have experienced the game themselves has been very positive, and the latest demonstrations at GDC 2012 in San Francisco resulted in another round of glowing previews (see the full list here). ‘The Secret World’ breaks new grounds and genre conventions by introducing a modern-day setting, a story-focused MMO experience, and a freeform progression system using no classes and no levels.

‘The Secret World’ is developed by Funcom and co-published by EA Partners, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA). For more information about ‘The Secret World’ or how to register for the beta, please visit www.thesecretworld.com.