The first Secret World beta event is going on this weekend, and apparently it’s no big secret.

Funcom is letting everyone know that if you’re interested in The Secret World, you’ve got a lot of company. And if you’re not… you probably should be.

The first MMORPG to dedicate itself to both a relatively modern real world setting, as well as the horror genre, The Secret World looks to branch out in directions ignored by its competitors. MMOs are a hot thing right now, and with cloned games being so prevalent, The Secret World looks to give you something new.

We’ve also got a statement straight from the horses mouth:

[quote]Funcom is thrilled to announce that one million gamers are now registered for  ‘The Secret World’ beta tests. This impressive number confirms the game’s position as one of the most highly anticipated massively multiplayer online games in the world, and the number is also significantly higher than what Funcom’s previous MMO  ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’ saw at the same time in its pre-launch development phase.

“Shattering our previous beta records gives us great hope for  The Secret World’s launch and its future,” says Funcom SVP of Sales & Marketing, Morten Larssen. “Combining this positive number with the excellent feedback we have received from both beta testers and the press that have played the game, make us very optimistic for a successful launch of  The Secret World.”

In addition to these impressive beta registration numbers, Funcom can also share that in just over a month nearly  two million unique visitors have come to Funcom’s‘The Secret World’ websites. Interest has also grown tremendously on the back of  ‘The Secret War’  social media experience that has seen almost  250,000 users register  to take active part in the interactive pre-launch community initiative, and the experience has been visited almost two million times  in just three weeks.

This coming Friday, May 11^th, Funcom will be kicking off the first of several Beta Weekends where gamers get to sample parts of the content and gameplay that will be featured in  ‘The Secret World’ when it launches on June 19^th this year. Everyone pre-ordering the game will get to play each of these Beta Weekends, and more content is added from one weekend to the next leading up to launch.

Funcom has also teamed up with world-leading gaming website GameSpot who are giving out 100,000 keys to gamers in the US, UK and Australia this week on  this giveaway page. GameSpot has also posted a video preview of  ‘The Secret World’ and will be following up with exclusive coverage later this week.

In the first Beta Weekend, named  ‘Kingsmouth Calling’, players will get to join the Templar secret society starting out in London, before they get to visit parts of Solomon Island to investigate the mysterious events that have occurred there. Players will get to play around with the groundbreaking progression system that is free of restrictions such as classes and levels, and will have the chance to experience the unique storyline that  ‘The Secret World’ offers. More details on the event can be found  on our website.[/quote]

As Funcom’s second venture in to the realm of MMORPGs, I really think we can expect a quality product here. Experience means a lot, as does the drive to innovate, and it looks like Funcom has both. With such a strong community at this stage in their release plans, two things are clear: A lot of people are looking for a new MMORPG, and many of them think The Secret World may be just the thing they’re looking for.

Communities really do make these games go round, so now would be the perfect time to jump in and see if this is the game for. Get to it everyone.