Atari acquires Cryptic Studios

[hippie_hunter]

Atari has announced that it has acquired US-based MMO developer Cryptic Studios in a performance-linked deal.

The company, previously responsible for City of Heroes and City of Villains, which made over USD 100 million for NCsoft, is in production on three titles, to be released over the next three years.



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.
Additionally the deal will see some of the studio's technology make its way into other Atari titles, as well as powering the Atari.com portal.



"The acquisition of Cryptic Studios brings to Infogrames an outstanding creative organisation, 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 deal itself comprises of an initial USD 26.7 million upfront cash payment, with an estimated maximum earn-out of around USD 27.5 million to be made up of cash and Infogrames shares.



Additionally the performance-related bonus could see as much as USD 20 million paid in cash or stock if Champions Online and Star Trek's 2010-11 revenues outperform set undisclosed targets, payable in August 2010 and May 2011.

I gotta say that with this acquisition, improving Alone in the Dark, and publishing Chronicles of Riddick and Ghostbusters, Atari is really trying their best in making a comeback.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

How did they improve Alone in the Dark?

 

[hippie_hunter]

How did they improve Alone in the Dark?

The PS3 version is said to have been improved quite a bit from a completely crappy game to a decent game.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Ugh, figures.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Alone in the Dark
Ghostbusters
Riddick (did they bought the rights from Vivendi?)
Dungeon´s & Dragons video game rights (they have it for quite some time now, but like Harison said, they are now going to really use it)
The Witcher for the 360 and PS3
Ready 2 Rumble (i believe they bought the rights from Midway)

And now Cryptic....

Since Lex Luthor (aka. Phil Harrison) got to be Infogrames president, Atari is really shaping up.
Glad for them

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

They should leave Baldur's Gate be.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

They should leave Baldur's Gate be.

After Bioware´s masterpieces, the only way for Baldur´s Gate to go is down

But, because it looks like BG3 is a given, let´s hope not...

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Well good for Atari, im glad to see them making a comeback. Ghostbusters and Riddick are going to kick ALL kinds of ass, so good move for Atari.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

After Bioware´s masterpieces, the only way for Baldur´s Gate to go is down

But, because it looks like BG3 is a given, let´s hope not...

100% agree. To be fair, (assuming it is Obsidian handling it) while Neverwinter Nights 2 was inferior to Bioware's original, Obsidian done a fantastic job with Mask Of The Betrayer (barring an anoying spirit eater mechanic ). If they carried on something like Icewind Dale or another D@D aspect with a new, less terrible game engine than Bioware's Aurora engine that would be alright. Don't understand what's wrong with using a hand-painted isometric grid veiw though, to me personaly the look of Baldur's Gate 2 is more appealing than the look of Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dragon Age. Wich will probably look graphically inept a few years from now while BG's hand art has yet to loose it's charm.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

100% agree. To be fair, (assuming it is Obsidian handling it) while Neverwinter Nights 2 was inferior to Bioware's original, Obsidian done a fantastic job with Mask Of The Betrayer (barring an anoying spirit eater mechanic ). If they carried on something like Icewind Dale or another D@D aspect with a new, less terrible game engine than Bioware's Aurora engine that would be alright. Don't understand what's wrong with using a hand-painted isometric grid veiw though, to me personaly the look of Baldur's Gate 2 is more appealing than the look of Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dragon Age. Wich will probably look graphically inept a few years from now while BG's hand art has yet to loose it's charm.

Bioware is not making it (of course, but they said once in an interview, before going to EA, that they would gladly give a hand if asked, because they love the D&D universe), and i believe that neither is Obsidian (but they said once that they would love to make Icewind Dale 3).
I hope they give it to the Witcher guys

 

[hippie_hunter]

Riddick (did they bought the rights from Vivendi?)

Vivendi Games was going to make the Riddick remake but then they merged with Activision and Activision didn't want to publish the game, just like Ghostbusters.

So the rights probably went back to Universal (which Vivendi no longer owns) just like how Ghostbusters went back to Sony Pictures and Atari picked up the publishing rights, just like they did with Ghostbusters.

Since Lex Luthor (aka. Phil Harrison) got to be Infogrames president, Atari is really shaping up.
Glad for them

Phil Harrison is doing a great job with Atari. They're no longer becoming the pathetic company they were.

But I've been thinking. With Harrison's focus on online gaming, they should really take advantage of the Atari game library such as Asteroids, Pong, Centipede, Breakout, and whatnot, they should update those classics and sell them on PSN and XBLA and the originals on the Virtual Console.

 

[Addendum]

But I've been thinking. With Harrison's focus on online gaming, they should really take advantage of the Atari game library such as Asteroids, Pong, Centipede, Breakout, and whatnot, they should update those classics and sell them on PSN and XBLA and the originals on the Virtual Console.

Um...
Asteroids, Centipede and Millipede, Missile Command, and Tempest

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Bioware is not making it (of course, but they said once in an interview, before going to EA, that they would gladly give a hand if asked, because they love the D&D universe), and i believe that neither is Obsidian (but they said once that they would love to make Icewind Dale 3).
I hope they give it to the Witcher guys

Wiki says CD Projekt translated Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale to Polish.

Reading the witcher game article it uses the same engine as Neverwinter Nights 2. From playing the witcher it seems the engine in reality is actully pretty good. Looks quite beautiful at times while running silky smooth with larger scale and more on screen than Neverwinter Nights 2, must be Obsidian.

 

[Havok83]

I didnt realize Atari had much money to go buy any studio