The last attempt to build a LEGO MMO, LEGO Universe, didn't turn out so well and shut down after fifteen months. Undeterred, The Secret World developer Funcom announced today it has licensed the rights to make a LEGO MMO of its own, based on the weird and wonderful LEGO Minifigures franchise.

The MMO will "focus on maximum accessibility," Funcom said in the announcement, and be "a prominent part of the LEGO Minifigures online experience." As for what it actually is, though, that's a mystery.

LEGO Minifigures, if you've missed the collectible craze, are simply little LEGO people, sold individually in opaque packets so you don't know what you're buying. As they don't need to fit into any particular set, Minifigures include hippies, bagpipers, knights, astronauts, computer programmers, punks, rappers, leprechauns, and other varied things.

"The market for family-friendly online experiences intended for children and youngsters is brimming with potential," Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas said. "Being able to work with a world-renowned brand such as the LEGO brand to develop an MMO for this audience is incredibly exciting to us as game developers and for Funcom as a company. This is source material we all know and love and we simply cannot wait to get started working with the LEGO Group on realizing this exciting project."