Zowie, Statesman! What do you suppose ol' NCSoft is up to?

Cryptic Studios just announced the sale of their popular City of Heroes and Villains game licenses to former publisher NCSoft for an undisclosed amount of money.

Cryptic Studios™ announced
today that the development house has sold its intellectual and
proprietary rights to both the City of Heroes(R) and City of
Villains(R) franchises to publisher NCsoft. As part of the agreement,
NCsoft is licensing Cryptic's engine technologies for use with future
games.

"City of Heroes and City of Villains players should be assured that
Cryptic Studios will be working closely with NCsoft to ensure a
smooth, seamless transition," said Michael Lewis, President and
co-founder of Cryptic Studios. "City of Heroes was Cryptic's flagship
product and we are proud of this title and the many millions of
characters that have entertained over a million people worldwide. The
decision to sell the franchise allows us to focus resources on our
soon to be announced first-party projects."

Read the official FAQ on the sale at the Cryptic Studios Blog.