Champions Online and Star Trek Online developer Cryptic is said to be working on an Neverwinter Nights MMO, according to the sources of Variety's Chris Morris.

The rumblings fit with owner Atari's past comments, including a vow that it would revive classic franchises, such as those under the Dungeons and Dragons banner, and word that Cryptic is prepping "a series of new games" based off Atari properties.

The as-yet-unconfirmed title is said to be targeting a 2011 release--the same timeframe provided for the unannounced project that was revealed when Atari bought Cryptic. As for the studio's two announced efforts, Champions Online is due on PC and Xbox 360 later this year, with Star Trek Online arriving on PC no later than March 31, 2010.

Taking place within the Forgotten Realms setting of the Dungeons and Dragons franchise, the Neverwinter Nights series arrived on PC in 2002 via developer BioWare, bearing both a single-player campaign and support for up to 75 online players per server. The fantasy RPG's 2006 sequel was handled by Obsidian, with both versions embracing community-made content through the inclusion of a mod toolset.

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.

Cryptic Studios has confirmed that it recruited players for the now-underway Champions Online closed beta from super-powered rival City of Heroes and other PC MMOs.

Rumors of such practices emerged via Massively earlier this week, after the official City of Heroes website warned players and forum-goers of solicitations from "another game company trying to lure you to their competing product."

While Cryptic Studios was initially involved in the creation and upkeep of City of Heroes, the company later sold its stake in the franchise to publisher NCsoft. Cryptic then revealed Champions Online a few months later, and was later bought by Atari.

"I'm certain this wasn't meant to be a malicious attack on a competing product, nor did anyone intend to steal players, violate user agreements, kill babies... Read more

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." 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.

Following the failure of Flagship Studios and Hellgate: London, former Blizzard Entertainment director Bill Roper has joined Cryptic Studios, the MMO developer announced today.

Roper will serve as Design Director on Champions Online, Cryptic's new massively multiplayer online superhero title based on the Champions role playing game.

Said Cryptic Studios CEO John Needham, "Bill brings a ton of creative energy to the Cryptic office and we're thrilled to have him join our team. His years of gaming and online experience are huge assets to all of our projects, and Bill will assist us in furthering our studio's vision to create innovative, exciting MMO gameplay."

Months after Perpetual Entertainment ceased its work on Star Trek Online, City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios has confirmed the rumors that it is now handling the sci-fi MMO and will be bringing the once PC-only effort to "both console and PC formats."

The MMO will feature "customizable ships and characters from the Klingon Empire and United Federation of Planets, ground, space and shipboard gameplay and unique options for player-generated content set in the Star Trek universe," going by a post on the game's official site.

It is unclear how much of Perpetual's original work will be reflected in Cryptic Studios' rendition of Star Trek Online. The project is now powered by the studio's internal Cryptic Engine technology, with the first gameplay footage due at this year's Star Trek Convention on August 10--suggesting many of Perpetual's assets are being re-used.

While details on the game's release date or console platforms were not provided, an Xbox 360 edition is a safe assumption, as Cryptic's upcoming Cryptic Engine-powered superhero MMO Champions Online is due out on both PC and Xbox 360 next spring.

Cryptic Studios, developer of the superhero MMO City of Heroes, have today announced their next project: Champions Online, a self-published superhero MMO based on the popular pen-and-paper game Champions RPG.

The key bullet point of Champions Online will be customization, with Cryptic boasting a "near infinite" amount of character-defining traits.

Says the press release: "Gamers will be able to create their hero's name, back story, costume, powers and abilities as well as design their own personal arch-enemy and his or her back story, which will guarantee a truly unique experience."

"We thought carefully about which IP to select for our next game," said Cryptic chief creative officer Jack Emmert. "I've been playing the Champions RPG since it first came out and I love both the rich history and the wide array of compelling characters which made this an obvious choice for Cryptic Studios."

Champions Online is slated for a spring 2009 release. A website for the project has also been launched.

With Marvel Universe Online (PC, X360) officially canceled and the studio no longer involved with City of Heroes (PC), the latest effort from superhero MMO developer Cryptic Studios is Champions Online, a super-powered MMO planned for PC and consoles.

Word of the project comes from a writeup detailing gaming publication Game Informer's March issue. No further details are available at this time.

Gearbox's upcoming Aliens shooter will be called Aliens: Colonial Marines when it hits PC and unspecifid consoles--most likely PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360--in 2009, the article revealed. It also contained the official title of Volition's next Red Faction entry, Red Faction: Guerilla.

Ending months of speculation, Microsoft Game Studios VP Shane Kim has confirmed that Marvel Universe Online is no longer in development.

According to Kim, the project's cancellation and was "an amicable decision" reached by both Microsoft and Marvel, and stemmed from the changing MMO landscape. "Clearly there are emerging models that have come about," he told MTV Multiplayer, pointing to alternative business strategies such as ad-supported play and item-oriented microtransactions.

Announced in 2006, Marvel Universe Online was planned for release on both PC and Xbox 360. The superhero MMO was under development by the veteran team of superpower-friendly developers at Cryptic Studios, which had previously been sued by Marvel for its work with the PC MMO City of Heroes.

"When we first entered into the development and agreement of the development of Marvel Universe Online, we thought we would create another subscription-based MMO," noted Kim. "If you really look at the data there's basically one that's successful and everything else wouldn't meet our level or definition of commercial... Read more

Following the cancellation of Star Trek Online, reports are coming in that members of the P2 Entertainment development team have today been laid off.

A WarCry article on the matter cites multiple sources at the company, though P2 has issued no comment at this time.

News circulated earlier in the week indicated that City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios had interviewed employees of the now-defunct P2 Entertainment team, opening up the possibility of the dead project being assimilated under new management.

Cryptic Studios, developers of the successful MMORPG series City of Heroes (PC), confirmed that the company has been interviewing employees of P2 Entertainment, reports TrekMovie.com.

Though the studio would not confirm if it is currently handling the development of Star Trek Online (PC), Cryptic's tapping of P2 employees seats the studio as the most likely candidate to continue the project. P2 Entertainment was revealed yesterday to have ceased development on the title, transferring the license to an unknown developer.

Rumors of Cryptic's involvement began with a story published this morning on w00tstudios. The company was previously known to be working on the superhero MMO Marvel Universe Online (PC, X360), though rumors strongly suggest the project has been scrapped, with Cryptic refusing to comment one way or another.

Both Cryptic and P2 were reached for comment, but have not responded as of this writing.

Speaking with 1up, an anonymous source has detailed some of the issues that are supposedly leading to the rumored cancellation of Cryptic Studios' Marvel Universe Online (PC, X360), which was announced in 2006.

"It reminded me a lot of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Running at 5 fps," claimed the tipster, who is said to have seen the game about six months ago. "[It] kept crashing and apparently hammered the hell out of both the console's hard drive and Live infrastructure."

He or she elaborated that the project has been, "in the shitter for a LOOOONG time." Other details indicate that the game's fighting system had yet to be decided up until a few months ago, with the team split between multi-button combo-based combat and the one-button fighting system used in most MMOs, such as Cryptic's own City of Heroes (PC).

Another tidbit suggests that the developer was having problems figuring out how to implement popular Marvel characters without detracting from the game... Read more

City of Heroes Sold on WarCry offers an interview with NCSoft's Brian Clayton, who is asked about the decision to buy out Cryptic Studios' part of the IP ownership (story), and what NCSoft plans to do with the game.

MMO publisher NCsoft has obtained complete ownership of the City of Heroes intellectual property for an undisclosed sum and is opening a new development studio staffed by members of the game's original team in Mountain View, CA.

The company's plans for the superhero PC MMO include new expansions and sequels. NCsoft claims it acquired "key members" of the City of Heroes team--including lead designer Matt Miller, lead engineer Aaron Brady, and lead artist Ken Morse--from Cryptic Studios, which originally developed the game and previously split ownership of the IP with NCsoft. All members of the City of Heroes team have been offered jobs at NCsoft, according to Cryptic's FAQ on the sale.

"We're happy to announce that NCsoft has acquired full ownership of the City of Heroes IP," said NCsoft executive producer and new studio manager Brian Clayton. "Our plans are clear. We are now in a position to make a major reinvestment in the City of Heroes product line."

The new office represents the second studio NCsoft has formally... Read more

Good lord, I saw some great stuff this week that I can't discuss yet. I know that's a fairly worthless thing to say, but considering all I've done for the last several days is travel--the airport security guys recognize me now, which is slightly depressing--I don't have much else to say.

Enjoy your news bits! ... Read more

Independent developer Cryptic Studios, the company behind MMOs such as City of Heroes (PC) and the upcoming Marvel Universe Online (X360, PC), has released its internal animation tool to the public as a free download. Made available via the GNU General Public License, the Cryptic Animation Rig is a 1.82 MB plugin for Autodesk's 3d Studio Max software.

"Our goal is to foster a community of animators by providing them the power to generate animations without having to worry about supporting a toolset. Since we were already developing the rig for our core technology team, we decided to ... Read more

There's a brief GDC interview with Jack Emmert of Crytic Studios on WarCry, chatting with the designer about City of Heroes / Villains.

MMORPG.com has a Jack Emmert Q&A up. The Cryptic Studios creative director answers questions about himself, his role at the company and Marvel Universe.

There's a City of Villains/Heroes interview on Boomtown, asking Cryptic Studios designer Melissa Bianco about the super hero/villain MMORPG.

Kotaku has a Marvel Universe Online Q&A up, talking to Frank Pape of Microsoft Games Studios, Jack Emmert of Cryptic Studios and Ames Kirshen of Marvel about this newly announced Xbox 360 / PC MMORPG.