If you're looking for an excuse to slip into some brightly-colored spandex and roam the city streets, Halloween's not your only option this weekend.

Developer Cryptic Studios and publisher Atari recently announced that their superhero-themed MMO Champions Online now houses more than 1 million player-created heroes. As we reported earlier, if you're curious to see what it's all about, new players can hop in and play for free all weekend long, until November 2nd.

The free-to-play period also coincides with a special in-game event... Read more

Cryptic's superhero MMO Champions Online will be opened to the public this weekend, with the company allowing anyone to create a free account and log on to enjoy the new Blood Moon Halloween event.

The promotion will run Friday through Sunday. Those interested can sign up for an account at the official site.

Cryptic Studio's superhero MMO Champions Online and NCSoft's fantasy MMORPG Aion have both gone gold, threatening to crush the social lives of gamers everywhere.

Champions Online is slated for release on September 1, with a limited open beta beginning today, while the CryEngine-powered Aion is due to arrive on September 22.

NCSoft hopes Aion will not only take second place in the MMO world behind World of Warcraft, but "Erase the memory" of Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, which it published.

Cryptic recently unveiled two Champions Online subscription offers with the perk of access to the Star Trek Online closed beta, including a hefty $200 lifetime subscription.

Well, I'll be: a developer diary that doesn't just list off what weapons the game has. A promotional video that actually offers some interesting anecdotes. A trailer that gives you more than--okay, okay, fine. Here are some big boss battles, first.

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Click through to learn about the history of Champions Online:... Read more

This new trailer for Champions Online says it's not looking for ordinary heroes, but is there such a thing as an ordinary MMO player? I ask this as someone that has played more than his share.

In any case, if you're not sure whether to spend an inordinate $200 on a lifetime subscription to the superhero MMO, this trailer probably isn't enough to help you decide. But it may spark your interest enough to give the August 17 open beta a chance.

Suit up on September 1 for the PC edition of Champions. The Xbox 360 version arrives later on this year.

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Cryptic has unveiled two Champions Online subscription offers which grant closed beta access to Star Trek Online, including a lifetime subscription costing a grand $200.

A $60 six-month subscription to the superhero MMO offers a 33% saving over the regular monthly fee of $15 and grants an exclusive "art deco" costume set. The $200 lifetime subscription also packs an in-game action figure, further exclusive costume sets, eight extra character slots, and a mirror universe outfit to wear in Star Trek Online.

Champions Online is released for PC on September 1, following a limited open beta which will begin on August 17. An Xbox 360 version is due to arrive late this year.

Executive producer Bill Roper's previous MMO Hellgate: London also offered a lifetime subscription for $149, which proved to be good for only fifteen months as developer Flagship Studios faced financial woes and the servers shut down in Feburary this year.

The phrase "open beta" usually indicates that anyone can get in, so when it was announced that pre-ordering Champions Online would offer "guaranteed access" to the so-called open beta of the super-powered PC MMO, well, it was a little confusing.

Fortunately, clarification has arrived, with word that 50,000 public slots in the open beta will be available on a "first-come, first-serve basis." The beta itself will run from August 17 through August 26, with registration starting on August 5 via FilePlanet.

The game formally launches a few days after the beta ends, on September 1, with retailers offering a variety of pre-order bonuses, including early access and items. An Xbox 360 edition of the Cryptic-helmed MMO is slated to arrive by the end of the year.

While an August 17 launch for the open beta of Champions Online was once "likely to change," developer Cryptic has now confirmed that the open beta will begin that day.

Those that pre-order the super-powered PC MMO from any participating retailer in North America will receive "guaranteed access" to the open beta, with various stores offering numerous other pre-order incentives, like exclusive items and a head start weekend.

Set to launch on September 1, Champions Online will pack a free month of play and five in-game micro-transaction dollars, dubbed "Cryptic Points," in all retail copies. All the details on the store-specific pre-order bonuses and such follow below... Read more

Superhero MMO Champions Online dazzles, excites and amazes with its giddying array of character creation options in a new trailer narrated by executive producer Bill Roper.

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Champions Online is slated for release September 1 on PC, with an Xbox 360 version due before the end of 2009. An open beta is tentatively scheduled for August 17.

Following a recent report that the open beta for Cryptic's superpowered MMO Champions Online would begin on August 17, the studio has cautioned that it is "likely to change."

"These dates are by no means finalized, and are working dates that are most likely going to change," Daeke, of the studio's online community team, wrote on the game's official boards. "I'm not sure why this information was posted, but we will post the dates for things like Open Beta as we set them."

Once slated to launch in PC form on July 16, Champions Online was delayed until September 1 to allow for more polish. An Xbox 360 edition is due by the end of 2009.

Update: VG247, which was among the initial sites to report the date, has explained that the information came from European publisher Namco. Apparently, the details were meant for the press, not the public, though that bit wasn't mentioned in the initial e-mail.

The open beta for Cryptic's new superhero MMO Champions Online will begin on August 17, according to VG247. While the current closed beta is limited to specific hours, the open beta will run 24 hours a day without interruption.

The PC version of Champions is scheduled to launch on September 1, while the Xbox 360 version is planned to hit sometime in the latter half of the year.

Cryptic Studios has announced the system requirements for its superhero MMO Champions Online, scheduled for a PC release on September 1 following delays for polishing. An Xbox 360 version is due to arrive between September 1 and December 31.

Minimum System Requirements

• CPU: 2.5GHz Single Core or 1.8GHz Dual Core
• Memory: 1GB RAM
• Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 / ATI Radeon X700 or HD / Intel Graphics with Dual Core... Read more

Illustrating even more of the wildly-colored costumes and powers that players can sport, developer Cryptic has released another batch of Champions Online screenshots. A menacing gunslinger in a bright yellow trench coat and red bandanna--why not!

The super-powered MMO hits PC on September 1, and Xbox 360 later this year.

New details on the projects being handled by City of Heroes veterans Cryptic Studios emerged out of studio owner and publisher Atari today via financial documents.

First up was word that the Xbox 360 version of the super-powered MMO Champions Online will arrive by the end of the year, at some time between September 1 and December 31. The PC edition of Champions Online is due to launch on September 1.

Next, Atari confirmed that the next MMO out of Cryptic, Star Trek Online, is expected to launch no later than March 31, 2010. No platforms were mentioned, though the company has previously said that STO is coming to "both console and PC formats."

Finally, the company teased that Cryptic is working on a "series of new games based on Atari's existing and historically successful IPs," but offered no further information.

Developer Cryptic Studios continues to illustrate the environments and various attacks of the upcoming super-powered MMORPG. In this batch, we've got glowing purple hands, see-through tentacles, and a huge four-armed dude that is also pink. Once slated to hit in July, the Champions Online will now hit PC on September 1. No date yet for the console edition, though the company has stated that it's coming later.

Champions Online developer Cryptic Studios has announced that the superhero MMO has been delayed until September 1 to add features and a spot of polishing.

"It is critically important for an MMO to be as good as it possibly can be at launch," said executive producer Bill Roper, mere weeks after a launch date of July 16 was given.

"Through our constant dialogue with our vocal and supportive community of beta testers, we quickly realized that in order to implement certain features that we all considered important the development of Champions Online would require more time."

The undated console release planned for later has presumably also been put back.

Champions Online's swinging travel power might let Nick live out his Spider-Man fantasies, but it doesn't have a patch on the superhero MMO's totally tubular tunneling.

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Decide for yourself whether you'll be a tunneling titan or a swinging soppy date when Champions Online arrives July 14 on PC, with a console release planned for later.

Cryptic Studios' superhero MMO Champions Online is to be released for PC on July 14, DarkZero reports from a press event held by publisher Atari in London today.

Apparently, the date wasn't meant to be announced until May 8, as sites like IncGamers have pulled their reports, but let's distract from that with new screenshots.

There's no update to Atari's previous announcement that Champions Online would be coming to "consoles"--with only an Xbox 360 version confirmed so far--after the PC.

This is a Champions trailer I can get behind. Ever since Treyarch's Spider-Man 2, I've come to appreciate a solid slinging mechanic. While I haven't personally demoed this feature in Cryptic's game, it's certainly a fresh idea for an MMO ability--though it does definitely look better when there are actual buildings around to swing from.

Champions Online hits the PC sometime later this year, with an Xbox 360 release expected later on.

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As the still-vague "spring" release of Champions Online draws ever closer, developer Cryptic has stepped up with a constant stream of new screenshots from the MMO. Our latest glimpse of the game includes Lovecraftian monsters, robots, and hey, zombies! Champions Online will launch on PC first, with a console edition coming later.