Cryptic Studios, the company responsible for City of Heroes and City of Villains, has been acquired by Atari. The MMO development company has made NCsoft over 100 million dollars for their part of creating the two major games with two more on the way. Champions Online is slated for a 2009 launch, while a Star Trek MMO will follow in 2010 and an as-yet-unannounced game will be released in 2011.
“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 David Gardner, CEO of Infogrames/Atari in a statement. “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. Creating vast worlds and interesting interactions can be very people intensive but with the use of Cryptic’s toolset they have a proven way of cutting average production costs in half. This is exactly the type of company we wanted to acquire in order to build Atari for the 21st century.
And John Needham, CEO of Cryptic and former Sony exec, added: “We share a common vision with Atari and their leadership team. With our game development and online platform technology skills, we’re very excited about the opportunities that this unique combination with Atari creates. I am committed to helping Atari grow into a leading online game company and look forward to being part of the team.”
The acquisition cost Ataris $26.7 million upfront with an estimated maximum earn-out of around $27.5 million to be made up of cash and shares. They could also receive up to $20 million in cash or stock if the next two games in the pipeline outperform an undisclosed target.
