The grant is part of was Funcom calls the Norwegian government’s "active endorsement of the Norwegian game development industry" – since the inception of its funding program in 2004, the government has supported a number of titles including Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, the disc-based precursor to new project Dreamfall: Chapters. .
"We will be researching an online-only continuation of the epic `Longest Journey’ saga, and we very much look forward to develop new chapters to the Dreamfall gaming community," said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. "To see the Norwegian government take such an active role in nurturing the local game development industry is impressive. In return for their trust we aim to deliver a modern adventure game with unique qualities."
Funcom has said that its business model is naturally evolving around an online-only strategy, and the research it conducts for Dreamfall: Chapters will also help it investigate piracy-reduction methods and the further possibility of turning the series into an MMO.