In a move that’s surprising and raises a number of questions
concerning the future of several games, Infogrames (the owners of
Atari) has purchased MMOG development studio Cryptic Studios.
According to the announcement on href="http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21433"
target="_blank">Gamasutra, the original style="font-style: italic;"
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/140"
target="_blank">City of Heroes development team
was purchased for $28 million with up to $20 million in sales-related
incentives. Here’s what Infogrames’ CEO had to say
about the acquisition:


style="font-style: italic;">"The acquisition of Cryptic
Studios brings to Infogrames an outstanding creative organization, with
a proven track-record of success in the fast-growing MMO category,"
said Infogrames CEO David Gardner.
style="font-style: italic;">


"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."



To be honest, it’s always surprised me that Cryptic had gone
for so long without actually being purchased by a larger publisher. The
team has obviously shown that they have the druthers to put together
incredible MMOGs, yet no one obviously offered them any sort of deal.
However, I’m also a bit surprised that the price tag ended up
being so small. With two games already in the works ( href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/860"
target="_blank">Champions Online and href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/117"
target="_blank">Star Trek Online) and a third
obviously on the way, $28 million (even $48 million) seems like a
bargain.



Finally, I’m curious to see what will happen to the future of
Champions Online.
Last we had heard, the game was still set to be published by 2K Games.
Whether or not this Infogrames deal will change the situation has yet
to be seen.



This is an interesting development in the MMOG community, and you
should keep your browsers pointed to Ten Ton Hammer to learn all of the
details of this juicy deal.


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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