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Take-two(Gaming company) drops Champions online!
Roosevelt
Member Posts: 341
www.gamespot.com/news/6202462.html
I find this to be troubling news from an already troubled game development. From going Marvel online to Champions to Atari to this, the development of Champions is in dire straights right now if you ask me.
_____________________________
At the turn of the century...
In 2008...
Cracked.com voted Roosevelt as the most badass President of all time.
This is his story....
Comments
Did you read the title of the news?
"Publisher no longer championing superhero-themed MMORPG following Atari's acquisition of its developer, Cryptic Studios."
Which means Atari will be the sole publisher of the game.
Did you read the title of the news?
"Publisher no longer championing superhero-themed MMORPG following Atari's acquisition of its developer, Cryptic Studios."
Which means Atari will be the sole publisher of the game.
From the article it just said that Atari would be publishing STO they said the publishing of Campions was still up in the air.
_____________________________
At the turn of the century...
In 2008...
Cracked.com voted Roosevelt as the most badass President of all time.
This is his story....
"With Atari now firmly ensconced in the publisher's seat, it remains to be seen whether or not Champions Online will stick to its previously announced spring 2009 release date. On the one hand, the game only bore a general "2009" release window when mentioned in the Atari acquisition announcement. On the other, Cryptic has ramped up work on the project, enlisting famed Diablo and Hellgate: London cocreator Bill Roper to work on the project. "
Seems to me there is a publisher, just not sure when the exact date of release will be.
The one big question I have for anyone on this is. From what everyone has been saying Atari does not have the best track record as of right now, could the loss of Take-Two hinder the publishing of the game. It now being in the hands of Atari?
_____________________________
At the turn of the century...
In 2008...
Cracked.com voted Roosevelt as the most badass President of all time.
This is his story....
I don't think it will hinder so long as Atari, or Infogrames (parent company) meddles in Cryptic's development process. Only time will tell however.
....nevermind. I just read the post. That can only mean that Infogrames is the one to have backed out of the 2K deal and plans to publish CO through Atari.
The title of your thread would make more sense if you add the hyphen between "Take two". Editing the thread header can be done. Right now it reads like instructions for taking some medicine called Champions while you are online.
Jack Emmert has said that Champions is slated for an early Q2 release, June was mentioned, though they were talking April before the merger. I think that they already had a deal with 2K for publishing of Champions. If that fell through then I'm sure Atari would publish Champions as well as STO, but I think it's all in motion already.
Oh, I agree. I don't see a point of acquiring a company that has great potential only to stop the creation of their games. makes little sense. Besides, this quote was found on gamefocus,
“We share a common vision with Atari and their leadership team.” said John Needham, Chief Executive Officer of Cryptic Studios, “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.”
you can see more of it here:
http://www.gamefocus.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?p=7689
Jack Emmert has said that Champions is slated for an early Q2 release, June was mentioned, though they were talking April before the merger. I think that they already had a deal with 2K for publishing of Champions. If that fell through then I'm sure Atari would publish Champions as well as STO, but I think it's all in motion already.
Oh, I agree. I don't see a point of acquiring a company that has great potential only to stop the creation of their games. makes little sense. Besides, this quote was found on gamefocus,
We share a common vision with Atari and their leadership team. said John Needham, Chief Executive Officer of Cryptic Studios, With our game development and online platform technology skills, were 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.
you can see more of it here:
http://www.gamefocus.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?p=7689
I am sure that Infogrames wants to keep it all in-house so they backed out of the deal with 2K so they can publish it through Atari, which I think is a good idea. Champions is pretty much complete so I assume the transition isn't going to delay things much, if at all. At least that is the way that Jack and the folks at Cryptic are spinning it. They are sure to want to get it out there before DC Universe comes out, so I don't see them pushing it back to Q4 or anything, especially since that is when they are talking about releasing STO. (Jack actually mentioned STO's release in an interview with massively.com, even though they haven't officially confirmed it.)
I'm just waiting for it.
I'll stay positive in the meanwhile and hope nothing changes for the worst.
Have you joined a Supergroup yet?
If not check out WATCHFIRE
We've got a pretty huge group started and some of our members are in the beta. Though they can't discuss it due to the NDA.
If you decide to check it out, my name there is Powernexus.
Thanks. Haven't found any yet, wasn't quite looking TBH. Nice setup. Will keep in mind, tyvm.
I just found a dev post regarding this on the official forums...
http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=11418
All is well. We are still on track with our development timeline and our future looks bright!
The dev's would be the last to find out mate.
If Take 2 thought it was going to be a big winner they wouldn't have sold it. Look at how cagey they have been with GTA.
Atari should publish it as long as it meets it's targets, and budget. You can bet they bought it cheap.
Whether they will or not is anybodies guess. It's clear that this isn't expected to be a mammoth hit.
Do you guys think this will mean a later release date?
I write things for the Examiner as the MMO Examiner.
Like I said in the other forms, BYE BYE CHAMPIONS ONLINE.
IF NOT THE WHOLE GAME, ATLEAST THE ONE WE GOT TO KNOW (Now that Infogrames has thier DIRTY Hands in it)
"NO, We won't touch anything in the game" BULL DOOKIE!
Well, if you've got proof that the game is officially cancelled, then let's see it. If this were truly a problem, then there would be some mention by the developers. But days later and everything is still moving along. The game isn't cancelled, it's just now being published by Atari.
Well, if you've got proof that the game is officially cancelled, then let's see it. If this were truly a problem, then there would be some mention by the developers. But days later and everything is still moving along. The game isn't cancelled, it's just now being published by Atari.
Cancellation would be better.
For a company to not publish a nearly finished game from a recently acquired company would be stupid.
Why would you think it is nearly finished?
All I've seen is a couple of pieces of concept art. Not even enough to cover the box with.
I think the DC universe online had some gameplay videos on www.Gametrailers.com if that's any consolation.
There's 2 G4 videos, there's a Trailer, there's a video on MSNBC, and I think I saw one on TenTonHammer.
...and except for the trailer, it's all with developer commentary and UI. The G4 video actually shows somebody holding a 360 controller and playing the game, although they noted that the Controller was hooked into a PC.
- CaesarsGhost
Lead Gameplay and Gameworld Designer for a yet unnamed MMO Title.
"When people tell me designing a game is easy, I try to get them to design a board game. Most people don't last 5 minutes, the rest rarely last more then a day. The final few realize it's neither fun nor easy."
When there is a public beta, it's "nearly finished".
The reason they have been publicising an alpha version is not becuase it is 6 months away from launch, but because they needed to attract a publisher to invest in them.
This game is nowhere near release.
Except that they had a Publisher at the announcement? TakeTwo.
And then they switched Publishers to a new one? Atari.
And the game is Internally funded by a successful, proven, studio... who's already released MMOs that are still running today making money?
And there's partial sponsorship by the company who created the TableTop game?
...I'm not sure how you can think they need much more funding then that... obviously their well off, better then most.
...but hey, I could be wrong... they could need more money.
- CaesarsGhost
Lead Gameplay and Gameworld Designer for a yet unnamed MMO Title.
"When people tell me designing a game is easy, I try to get them to design a board game. Most people don't last 5 minutes, the rest rarely last more then a day. The final few realize it's neither fun nor easy."
There is no partial sponsorship from the makers of the table top game. Cryptic bought them. That was an overhead.
And yes, you've spotted the two publishing deals that strangely co-incided soon after their press releases.
They need more money. If they had enough money to self publish, (as opposed to enough money to start the development), then they wouldn't have been looking for a publisher in the first place.
This announcement really is more worrying than people realize. I wouldn't say it's "dire" news, though.
It's not routine, but it's not necessarily catastrophic to switch publishers prior to a game's launch due to a change in ownership. Blizzard, for instance, has changed hands several times in its lifetime, as its parent company got bought out or changed shape. The really worrying thing is where Cryptic started and where they ended.
Take Two is in as much trouble as any other company at the moment, but it's fairly stable on the whole. It has been around a very long time, and more importantly, it has some incredibly profitable internal studios at present.
Infogrames (and Atari, by extension), on the other hand, can best be described as a chronically ill patient. To somebody who merely does a quick Google of the company, it seems to be in dire straits. However, historically, the company has been to the brink of death and back several times. You can't write it off. Infogrames holds within its stable several extremely lucrative IP's and a few quality studios. However, it has had trouble monetizing them historically, and Infogrames practically goes hand in hand with the word debt. The real worry is that its historic lack of stability, coupled with the current economic mess, will push it over the edge (again). I definitely wouldn't invest in IESA myself, but I'd rather not see it go the way of past, once-vaunted publishers (Interplay, anyone?).