Cryptic Studios sells rights for City of Heroes and City of Villains

Cryptic Studios announced today that it has sold the intellectual and proprietary rights to the City of Heroes and City of Villains franchises to NCsoft. Previous to today's sale, ownership of the intellectual property rights to the franchises was split between NCsoft and Cryptic Studios, which originally developed both franchises. As part of the sale agreement, NCsoft is also licensing Cryptic's engine technologies for use with its future games.

Michael Lewis, P resident and co-founder of Cryptic Studios, assured the game's players that the sale should not worry them saying, “ City of Heroes and City of Villains players should be assured that Cryptic Studios will be working closely with NCsoft to ensure a smooth, seamless transition”. He went on to say that the sale of the franchises will allow the developer to focus its resources on projects it will be announcing soon. To see some images from Cryptic Studios upcoming projects, go to www.crypticstudios.com and head to the In Development section, under Products.

NCsoft opens new studio

Along with today's announcement of Cryptic Studios' sale of the City of Heroes and City of Villains franchises to NCsoft comes the news that NCsoft has opened a new development studio in Mountain View, California. The creation of the new studio is part of NCsoft's renewed push to further develop the franchises. The new studio will be built around key members of of the City of Heroes team from both NCsoft and Cryptic Studios, including the art, programming and design team leads.

Brian Clayon, NCsoft executive producer and manager of the new studio, stated how pleased he was that the company acquired full ownership of the franchises, and also spoke about the future of both franchises. “Our plans are clear,” he said, “We are now in a position to make a major reinvestment in the City of Heroes product line. With our existing Cryptic and NCsoft team as the core, we will be able to run our current service without any interruption to our players, expand our studio to deliver triple-A content, and take City of Heroes to new heights.”

NCsoft says that it will soon e announcing formal plans for the franchises, including expansions and sequels.

Majesco opens internal studio

Majesco Entertainment Company announced today that it is establishing an internal development facility, which will be based in the Los Angeles area. The publisher, well known for its casual video games, is hoping that the new studio will add valuable technical and design skills to its overall operation, as well as focus specifically on products and properties that interest casual gamers.

Guitar Hero III makes Activision big bucks

Activision announced today that within the first seven days of the game's North American release, sales of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock exceeded $115 million, making the game the largest single product launch in the publisher's history. According the Activision, Guitar Hero has expanded well beyond video games and is one of the biggest entertainment franchises in the marketplace today. The release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock marks the franchise’s debut on both Playstation 3 and Wii, making it the only music based game on all current generation console platforms.

Today's game releases

THQ's Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance for PC - $39.99 USD and CAD

Koei's Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 - $59.99 USD/$69.99 CAD

Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Nintendo DS, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC - Price varies by system and version

D3 Publisher of America's Horse Life for Nintendo DS - $29.99 USD

Nintendo's Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for Wii - $49.99 USD and CAD

Sony's SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Tactical Strike for PSP - $39.99 USD and CAD

Microsoft Game Studios' Gears of War for PC - $49.99 USD and CAD