Cryptic Studios doesn’t have to sleep alone anymore. Today Atari announced that it has acquired the MMO developer responsible for City of Heroes, Champions Online and the Star Trek MMO. Atari will be inheriting all of those titles, strengthening an already rock solid portfolio with a dash of MMO tastiness.
Champions Online is slated for a 2009 release on the Xbox 360 and PC. It is definitely one of the more anticipated MMOs on a console in recent memory for a reason – it appears to be good. The Star Trek MMO will be released sometime in 2010 and an unannounced (but probably MMO) title will hit shelves in 2011.
The acquisition comes in the form of big money – 26.7 million upfront – with bonus options available to Cryptic. According to gamesindustry.biz, Cryptic could earn up to 20 million dollars if their 2010-11 revenues reach a certain sales mark. The deal reads like an NFL contract. One can only hope that Cryptic won’t break its foot within the first three games like a certain Indianapolis Colts defensive end after his big payday.
