While the buyout of Cryptic Studios by Atari seemed rather easy and spontaneous, not all was so simple. Atari had competition for the Champions Online developer from UbiSoft, who has been looking for a way to push into the online game sphere for a while now. While they've bought World in Conflict developer Massive Entertainment to work on a Tom Clancy MMO, they must have wanted people with online game experience to help it along.

If Ubisoft would have taken Cryptic, the move would have been a big step forward in the company's efforts to establish itself as a player in the online sector.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently said that the company plans to launch "at least" two online-centric products in calendar 2009. Martinez confirmed that Ubisoft's initial forays into online would be lighter, more casual experiences.

One assumes that the success or failure of these lighter online games will determine the fate of the Tom Clancy MMO now, without significant MMO developer support. UbiSoft has mentioned that there are other buyout deals they are currently negotiating.

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