Develop has word that The Secret World lead designer Martin Bruusgaard has been laid off by Funcom along with other developers on the MMORPG. Here's word:

Revealing the news on Twitter, Martin Bruusgaard said he was no longer with the developer, and had been put on forced leave along with most of the Oslo office.

He suggested that the studio’s Norway headquarters had been hit much harder than other offices as it was expensive to run, and suggested that it was “cheaper to hire someone abroad”.

“Unfortunately, I'm not with Funcom anymore,” said Bruusgaard.

“Got put on forced leave along with most of our Oslo Office, a week ago.”