Funcom veteran Scott Junior steps up as CEO

Funcom today announced that Chief Product Officer and company veteran Scott Junior will step up as CEO, succeeding Rui Casais, who has led the Norway-based game developer and publisher for the past 11 years.

Following its initial PC release in June 2025, Dune: Awakening launched on PlayStation and XBOX in September, joining Conan Exiles as Funcom’s second survival game available across all three platforms. With this major development cycle now complete, Funcom will shift its primary focus toward the long-term operation, growth, and expansion of both games.

It is a transition that plays directly to Scott Junior’s extensive experience in live game development and operations. He has been with Funcom for 25 years and has led the post-launch development and live operations of several of the company’s biggest games, including Conan Exiles, The Secret World, and Age of Conan. He has also served as Executive Producer on Dune: Awakening, leading the teams bringing the game to market on PC, PlayStation, and XBOX.

“Leading the continued growth of Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles is a big responsibility, and I am honored to be entrusted with it,” said Scott Junior. “My focus going forward will be ensuring Funcom is organized in the best way possible to expand these games for many years to come through new content and gameplay, while fostering a close relationship with our dedicated communities.”

Rui Casais leaves the CEO role after 22 years at Funcom and 11 years leading the company. Starting as a Junior AI Programmer on Age of Conan in 2004, he became Chief Technology Officer in 2008 before stepping up as CEO in 2015.

His tenure has been a period of major transformation for Funcom. Under his leadership, the company launched Conan Exiles, which recouped its development budget in five days and remains one of Funcom’s most profitable and most-played games nearly a decade later.
Rui Casais also led Funcom through its acquisition by Tencent, creating room for greater investment and growth, including continued development of Conan Exiles and the creation of Dune: Awakening, the company’s largest project to date. He expanded Funcom’s development capacity through the acquisition of Portugal-based developer ZPX, established the company’s third-party publishing business, bringing games including Metal: Hellsinger, Mutant Year Zero, and Aloft to market, and led the acquisition of Cabinet Entertainment, giving Funcom control of IP including Conan the Barbarian, Solomon Kane, and Mutant Year Zero.

“This is a natural stepping-off point for me personally,” said Rui Casais. “My focus has been on growth and expansion, paving the way for Conan Exiles and Dune: Awakening to be built and positioned for long-term success, and I am very proud of what we have achieved. Funcom is now entering a different phase, where the team must be laser-focused on the continued development and live operation of these two games. Scott has an incredible depth of knowledge and decades-long experience of the operation of our games, and I fully trust his ability to grow these games going forward.”

As Funcom aligns its organization with this new focus, the company will also enter a period of restructuring. This will mean reducing the size of the organization and, sadly, saying goodbye to valued colleagues.

The process begins now, and out of respect for the employees involved, Funcom will not share further details until it has concluded.

“Dune: Awakening has been the biggest project we have ever undertaken, requiring many years of significant development resources across our studios,” said Rui Casais. “Moving from full production into long-term post-launch development and operations requires a different organization. While we would have wanted everyone who helped build Dune: Awakening to continue with us, we cannot sustain the size and structure required during peak development as we move into this next phase. My focus now is ensuring the process is as supportive as possible for everyone affected, and to treat our colleagues with the respect and transparency they deserve.”

The restructuring will guarantee Funcom’s focus on Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles going forward. The company remains committed to supporting, expanding, and growing these games and their communities for years to come. Conan Exiles recently saw the release of an Enhanced edition, that Funcom will continue to expand upon.

Rui Casais will depart Funcom end of this year. Until then, he will work closely with Scott Junior to manage the restructuring process and ensure a smooth transition of leadership.

“We are incredibly proud of the games we have built and excited about what comes next,” said Scott Junior. “Funcom has an amazing team and deep experience creating survival and open-world games. Our focus is on growing Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles, delivering great experiences for our players, and building on the strong foundation Rui has helped create.”