Atari Owner Buys City of Heroes Dev. Cryptic Studios

by Maarten Goldstein, Dec 09, 2008 3:48am PST

Related Topics – xbox 360, Atari, PlayStation 3, PC, Cryptic Studios

MMORPG developer Cryptic Studios has been acquired by Atari parent company Infogrames, the companies have revealed.

The announcement specified that Atari will now be able to "create unique, high quality MMO games on 18 to 24-month cycles."

Above, Champions Online

Cryptic Studios, which developed City of Heroes and City of Villains for NCSoft, had been known to be developing Champions Online and Star Trek Online, but today's announcement also reveals development of a third project. The untitled game is scheduled for 2011, according to GamesIndustry.biz, following Champions Online in 2009 and Star Trek Online in 2010. "This is exactly the type of company we wanted to acquire in order to build Atari for the 21st century," said Infogrames CEO David Gardener.

Infogrames is paying $26.7 million right away, with an additional $20 million in stock or cash heading Cryptic's way if revenues of Champions Online and Star Trek Online hit certain targets.

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Comments

13 Threads | 36 Comments

#36

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By: critch x Show Full Post

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Damn it, I thought Trek might come out in 09 :-(

Dec 09, 2008 8:53pm PST

Damn it, I thought Trek might come out in 09 :-( : critch

#35

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By: be0wulfe x Show Full Post

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Considering City of got better after NCSoft bought them, I'm note sure about the wisdom of a company buying an MMO developers without any MMO's under their belt. Sure Cryptic broke ground with City of - but who is Cryptic? Is it Jack Emmert or is it NCNC?

Remember, the core of the crew (13 people!) that kept City of going went over to NCNC.

http://www.websnark.com/archives/2008/02/so_help_me_if_j.html

Dec 09, 2008 6:21pm PST

Considering City of got better after NCSoft bought them, I'm note sure about the wisdom of a company buyi... : be0wulfe

#12

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By: Dr_Cube x Show Full Post

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Faylor, where are they coming up with the cash to do all these deals? Did they release some blockbuster hit I missed? What's your take as to why the news coming out of Atari been positive lately?

Dec 09, 2008 6:25am PST

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Faylor, where are they coming up with the cash to do all these deals? Did they release some blockbuster h... : Dr_Cube
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 5 replies.

#8

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By: cerealSAM2 x Show Full Post

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Please don't let the new MMO be E.T. Online.

Dec 09, 2008 6:03am PST

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Please don't let the new MMO be E.T. Online. : cerealSAM2
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- toggle
  Pick up raid for the Speak-and-Spell! Actually those things are still cool. : The_Archon
  - SPEAKING of which: http://www.speaknspell.co.uk/speaknspell.html : The_Archon
  - I was thinking more along the lines of this debacle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._(Atari_2600) : cerealSAM2
- Entertainment Tonight Online : vezatron

#32

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By: byorn x Show Full Post

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It would make an interesting Shack Report to plot the crazy history of Atari/Infogrames/Microprose

How amazing is it that Star Trek is once again associated with those folks?

Dec 09, 2008 12:34pm PST

It would make an interesting Shack Report to plot the crazy history of Atari/Infogrames/Microprose How... : byorn

#30

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By: Sylvanus x Show Full Post

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Best of luck to them. I believe the STO market is what Atari is eying more than anything CO, sure. I can't comment on the *other* MMO as I have no idea what it is.

Dec 09, 2008 11:58am PST

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Best of luck to them. I believe the STO market is what Atari is eying more than anything CO, sure. I ca... : Sylvanus
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
- Neither do I <wink> : asynchronice

#17

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By: tidic x Show Full Post

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Well you know when someone is in dire peril, a super hero comes to save the day?

With Atari's current state, they brought a company that specialises in creating worlds full of them.

On a serious note, Cryptic's work on City of XXXX bodes well for its future MMOs being a solid and reliable revenue stream which I think Atari needs instead of relying on the chance of a blockbuster keeping them afloat.

Dec 09, 2008 7:34am PST

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Well you know when someone is in dire peril, a super hero comes to save the day? With Atari's current ... : tidic
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  NCSoft owns City of XXXX so I don't think there's any revenue stream there. : schnitz76
  - Correct. : Sylvanus

#15

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By: Tom Ohle x Show Full Post

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Woot.

Dec 09, 2008 6:58am PST

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Woot. : Tom Ohle
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  why the woot? : deathofrats
  - He owned Cryptic? : et72

#4

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By: Jonathan x Show Full Post

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Well that's kind of depressing. Cryptic seemed to planning to be independent for the long term.

Dec 09, 2008 4:29am PST

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Well that's kind of depressing. Cryptic seemed to planning to be independent for the long term. : Jonathan
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  obviously they werent : Maarten Goldstein
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    Well I was assuming that their talk of self publishing future projects wasn't pure hype. : Jonathan
    - well now they can self publish! because they are owned by a publisher : mikecyb

#20

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By: Snake&Crane x Show Full Post

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Now they can 'create unique, high quality MMO games on 18 to 24-month cycles.'
You mean like AoC, which was released in pre-Alpha form to the public? I can't say I'm looking forward to any MMO developed in that short timespan.

Dec 09, 2008 8:22am PST

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Now they can 'create unique, high quality MMO games on 18 to 24-month cycles.' You mean like AoC, which ... : Snake&Crane
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  They seem to fail to grasp the concept of a "high quality MMO". It should keep you playing for way longer... : Syrek
  - I would imagine they are trying for different audiences with every other MMO they make. For instance I do... : byorn

#7

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By: Luminair x Show Full Post

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lol since when does atari have money to buy a company with

Dec 09, 2008 5:41am PST

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lol since when does atari have money to buy a company with : Luminair
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- My thoughts exactly. I was under the impression that Cryptic was doing well (considering) and Atari was ... : The_Archon
- Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Wasn't Atari on the brink of bankruptcy fairly recently? : Ride-My-Rocket

#11

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By: massdev x Show Full Post

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less than 50 million for this deal seems like a fire sale.

Dec 09, 2008 6:16am PST

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less than 50 million for this deal seems like a fire sale. : massdev
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- Cryptic's revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008 amounted to USD 17 million. http://www.warcr... : Jonathan

#1

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By: baron calamity x Show Full Post

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That is interesting. Wonder where they got the 26 million from since they mentioned just a year ago they didn't have much in the way of operational capital. Was Alone in the Dark a huge hit?

Dec 09, 2008 3:50am PST

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That is interesting. Wonder where they got the 26 million from since they mentioned just a year ago they ... : baron calamity
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
- a year ago is a long time : Maarten Goldstein
- loans come in all shapes and sizes. : syn0r

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