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Alone in the Dark publisher Atari has bought US MMO developer Cryptic Studios in what’s been described as a “performance-linked deal”.
Cryptic, developer of City of Heroes and City of Villains, has three MMOs up its sleeve, Champions Online, which is down for release sometime next year, a Star Trek MMO, down for release sometime in 2010 and a super secret unannounced MMO, down for sometime in 2011.
Atari’s parent company, Infogrames, said the deal’s about “Infogrames strategy to become a leading online game developer and publisher”.
David Gardner, CEO of Infogrames, said: “The acquisition of Cryptic Studios brings to Infogrames an outstanding creative organisation, with a proven track-record of success in the fast-growing MMO category. Cryptic’s success is founded on leading-edge technology and the vision of a seasoned executive management team. I am impressed with the tools and technology that Cryptic has developed to make MMOs less expensive to build. Creating vast worlds and interesting interactions can be very people intensive but with the use of Cryptic’s toolset they have a proven way of cutting average production costs in half. This is exactly the type of company we wanted to acquire in order to build Atari for the 21st century.”
Atari’s forked out $27.6 million upfront in cash to buy the studio, with further payment linked to the performance of Champions Online and Star Trek Online.
Last we heard, Champions Online, which is down for release on PC and Xbox 360, was being published by BioShock publisher 2K Games. We’re finding out now if there’s been any knock on affect.
In the mean time, why not check out our preview of Champions Online, which is shaping up very nicely indeed?
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