With the sudden purchase of Cryptic Studios by Atari this week, there's been a lot rumors swirling in the MMOspace - the most logical of which is that Cryptic will now take on the immediate development of an MMO based on an Atari IP. Even Jack Emmert of Cryptic has been hinting at it.

"Atari has a great pool of resources: PR, marketing, distribution, et cetera. Atari also has a number of terrific IPs that would make great MMOs."

What we do know of Cryptic's schedule is this:

- Champions Online is due out Q2 2009, and Cryptic has said that they're on schedule for that at this point.

- Some time in 2010 we are expecting Star Trek Online, but it's too early in the development process for that to be a definite.

- With the announcement of the buyout, Cryptic said they would have a third MMO out the door by 2011.

It seems a little quick for them to be jumping through the door with an Atari IP MMO and have it ready in two to three years. However, with the development of Champions Online, they've shown they can work awful good, awful quick. Here's to seeing this work well!

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