Servers will be built on the X4 architecture

Not everyone cares, but some people like to know what's going on with the hardware behind their favorite games. Champions Online announced yesterday that their game servers will be IBMs, built on IBM's X4 architecture.

ARMONK, NY – September 15, 2008 – Cryptic Studios™, a leading independent developer of massively-multiplayer online role playing games, has chosen IBM (NYSE:IBM) servers to power its highly anticipated massively multiplayer online (MMO) action game, Champions Online™, being published by 2K Games and developed for PC and consoles.

Based on the popular Champions™ pen-and-paper RPG, Champions Online will give players the power of total customization for their hero experience while they explore a vast comic book universe. IBM System x offers a responsive, scalable architecture that Cryptic Studios needs to deliver immersive, and action-packed experiences to all level of gamers. This architecture will accommodate thousands of simultaneous worldwide users and millions of game downloads while delivering a high-performance gaming experience.

"Cryptic Studios is dedicated to building strong player communities, and developing challenging, yet accessible games with deep and enjoyable gameplay," said Bruce Rogers, chief technical officer for Cryptic. "Our development team aims to deliver the best player experience possible. With the high performance capabilities and scalability of IBM System x, Cryptic will be able to deliver the quality experience our players expect."

The System x solution is power efficient, helping Cryptic Studios manage energy costs. With an open, flexible design, the System x infrastructure will efficiently scale as Cryptic Studios expands its business worldwide.

"IBM is dedicated to helping Cryptic Studios deliver an electrifying experience to their gamer community by providing an optimized and high performing infrastructure," said David Laux, IBM Global executive, games and interactive entertainment. "Backed by the power of System x, Champions Online players can fully immerse themselves in their superhero experience without worrying about lagging performance or threats of system failures."

IBM System x is based on X4, the fourth generation of IBM's X-Architecture design blueprint for Intel processor-based servers. X-Architecture is the "secret sauce" that makes IBM x86 systems so reliable, efficient and powerful.

For more information about Champions Online, please check the offficial site. For more information about the X4 architecture, please check IBM's official site.