crypticstudios
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'Jet Set Radio' is absolutely free on Steam
Cupid may have left you high and dry, but have no fear: Sega wants you to have some free games to make up for it. See, as part of the publisher's Make War Not Love event this year, everyone on Steam can grab gratis copies of Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe and all of Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit. Just hit the promo's Steam page to add the games to your library of (mostly) unplayed games.
Atari buys MMO dev Cryptic Studios
With all of the activity coming out of Atari lately, you'd think the once-struggling publisher stumbled across a bag of cash under the house. The company, which recently has made a habit of picking up other publisher's unwanted cast offs, today acquired City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios in what GI.biz describes as a "performance-linked deal."The agreement includes three of Cryptic's upcoming projects, including next year's super powered MMO, Champions Online, Star Trek Online in 2010 and an as-yet-unannounced third project (Hint: something Online?) due the year after that. What's more, the report suggests that in addition to the $26.7 million in cash that Cryptic pocketed from the deal, the developer could see its coffers grow by another $20 million bonus should enough players decide to suit up in tights or explore the final frontier.
Cryptic Studios appoints former SOE exec as CEO
There's a new set of massively multiplayer hands on the wheel at Cryptic Studios, as the developer has announced the appointment of MMORPG industry vet John Needham as the company's new CEO. For those playing catch up, Cryptic, which is known for its infatuation with superheroes, developed the popular City of Heroes and City of Villains MMOs, properties it sold off to publisher NCSoft late last year before moving on to develop the decidedly not-Marvel MMO Champions Online. Needham is not completely out of his element at Cryptic, having worked as a senior exec at Sony Online Entertainment since 2001. However, while he handled a wide range of duties at SOE, from business development to QA testing, it remains to be seen if this prepared him to don spandex and wield executive powers at the Los Gatos, CA based MMO dev. [Via Big Download]
Cryptic may bring heroic MMO's to consoles
Recently IGN released some news regarding City of Heroes and City of Villains creator, Cryptic. They have announced they are looking for programmers and artists for new PC titles and consoles. The MMO-related jobs open include Lead Designer, Lead Programmer, and Associate Producer. The rest are listed at Cryptic Studios website, for anyone interested.The only confirmation Cryptic has let out is they have multiple projects in the works. City of... Mutants? The Lead Designer position calls for interest in mythology and history, both ancient and current. Don't worry -- they say there's no Rome or Greece involved. Hopefully they also don't intend on World War 2. All three of those are very, very overdone. What kind of City of... would you like to see come to consoles? Cleverness is quite appreciated. City of Zombies would be neat, even though most zombie games (excepting a few, like Resident Evil) are sort of lacking in gameplay.
Cryptic Studios hiring; hint at more MMORPGs
MMORPG.com is reporting that Cryptic Studios -- the makers of City of Heroes/Villains -- is holding an open house for people who want to join their team. Perhaps more importantly though, hidden in the announcement is the fact that the studio will make known later this year that "multiple" new MMORPG titles will be coming out. And not only on the PC, but next-generation consoles as well. The release reads: "Cryptic Studios, Inc. ... announced today that the company is actively searching for new talent to join their development team. With projects in the works on console and PC platforms, Cryptic has partnered with top publishers and is planning to announce multiple new massively multiplayer titles later this year." Good to know developers are working on bringing more MMORPGs to the consoles. +1 to that!
