NCSoft today announced they have taken full ownership of the City of Heroes IP, previously split between NCSoft and Cryptic Studios.  Continuing development on the game will be a new studio in Mountain View, California.

Some gamers might be concerned about the future of Cryptic Studios as they are currently creating the Marvel Universe MMO. To that end, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood spoke with Cryptic Studios' Online Community Relations Manager Victor Wachter. While Marvel wasn't mentioned specifically, he had this to say:

"We've got a lot of plans going forward, and this allows us to focus on those and direct our company with a lot more creative and business freedom."

Below, please find the press releases from both NCsoft and Cryptic Studios:

NCsoft

NCsoft® Corp, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, today announced the formation of a new development studio in Mountain View, California. The announcement comes as the company begins a renewed push to further develop the City of Heroes® property, which is now 100 percent owned by NCsoft. Previous to today, ownership of the intellectual property (IP) was split between NCsoft and Cryptic Studios, the original developer of the project.

The new studio will be built around key members of the City of Heroes team from NCsoft and Cryptic Studios including the art, programming and design team leads.

“We’re happy to announce that NCsoft has acquired full ownership of the City of Heroes IP,” said Brian Clayton, NCsoft executive producer and manager of the new studio. “Our plans are clear. 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 will soon be announcing formal plans for the City of Heroes IP, which will include expansions and sequels to the popular comic-book inspired massively multiplayer online (MMO) game.

Matt Miller, Lead Designer on the City of Heroes project and formerly with Cryptic Studios said, “We’re thrilled to be bringing the CoH franchise to the next level. And we couldn’t be more pleased to be working completely under the NCsoft banner. We feel that City of Heroes’ best days are in front of it.”

Cryptic Studios

Cryptic Studios™ announced today that the development house has sold its intellectual and proprietary rights to both the City of Heroes® and City of Villains® franchises to publisher NCsoft. As part of the agreement, NCsoft is licensing Cryptic's engine technologies for use with future games.

"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," said Michael Lewis, president and co-founder of Cryptic Studios. "City of Heroes was Cryptic's flagship product and we are proud of this title and the many millions of characters that have entertained over a million people worldwide. The decision to sell the franchise allows us to focus resources on our soon to be announced first-party projects."

Wonder which side is getting the better deal. CoH might have some real problems if they don't get something out there that really outdoes what the Marvel name will bring. I hope CoH wins the battle though.

Originally posted by Robbgobb

Wonder which side is getting the better deal. CoH might have some real problems if they don't get something out there that really outdoes what the Marvel name will bring. I hope CoH wins the battle though.

CoH really deserves better than this niche. But what it needs is a REAL expension, to be more than a million offices and halls all looking the same. Maybe this change heralds a long overdue expansion and re-work. CoH is a blast, but at lv 30 or so I just thought I would yell if I gotta see one more same looking office or factory hall.

I was wondering how Cryptic was going to take care of this game and  creat Marvel Online with its fullest potential - guess we found out

with this anouncement and the older news that NCSoft and Sony have teamed up, im hoping for a CoH/CoV version out for the PS3 in the future. The PS3 can easily handle this game, and anything new they want to add to the game.

I'm not sure if I should be worried about my favorite game being changed around in ways I won't like, or be happy about it having a new direction. In my opinion, CoH is advancing pretty well, I can't imagine what more NCsoft could do to, "take City of Heroes to new heights". This might be why I'm worried.

experience tells me that when you change dev teams completely AND studios.  then the title is doomed.

ncsoft is very cash light these days and honestly not doing so well financially. 

i hate to say it, i love CoX but this title is officially doomed.  i had hoped, if anything, cryptic would buy the title from NC....

First, Woot.  CoH/CoV are both great games but this dog is almost dead.  Having Cryptic free and clear to create the Marvel MMO is exciting news.  Second, I haven’t read anything about Sony teaming up with NCSoft.  Do you have any links? I’m sure it would only mean doom for NCSoft, and that is too bad because they have some good games.  

Originally posted by cerebrix

experience tells me that when you change dev teams completely AND studios.  then the title is doomed.

 

ncsoft is very cash light these days and honestly not doing so well financially. 

 

i hate to say it, i love CoX but this title is officially doomed.  i had hoped, if anything, cryptic would buy the title from NC....

Actually, nearly the entire dev teamed has signed on w/ NC SOFT. They announced that on the official forums. Also, really what this is, is a move to start developing COH2 to compete w/ MUO and not have Cryptic and Microsoft in the way.

Originally posted by Tobruk

with this anouncement and the older news that NCSoft and Sony have teamed up, im hoping for a CoH/CoV version out for the PS3 in the future. The PS3 can easily handle this game, and anything new they want to add to the game.

Hmm.. NCSoft + Sony teaming up??? Can you post a link please - haven't heard this one.

Recent merger was Bioware + LucasArts but that has nothing to do with HEROES concept. I do know that Sony and PotBS developer Flying Labs have teamed up - but that's old news.

"ncsoft is very cash light these days and honestly not doing so well financially. "

What? Source? Again, what?

As for the NC/Sony deal, it was announced at this years "E3" type of event--google NCsoft and sony.

Here's a couple of links:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/07/18/ggl-digs-into-ncsoft-sony-partnership/

http://www.plaync.com/us/news/2007/09/dev_corner_ncso.html

Feh, DOOM! GLOOM! Game over man! Puuh lease.

Sony announced the partnership with NCSoft on E3.

I have no links (sorry), but I'm sure you can search for it

Edit: Gunbug said it :)

Originally posted by mmcguire2

First, Woot.  CoH/CoV are both great games but this dog is almost dead.  Having Cryptic free and clear to create the Marvel MMO is exciting news.  Second, I haven’t read anything about Sony teaming up with NCSoft.  Do you have any links? I’m sure it would only mean doom for NCSoft, and that is too bad because they have some good games.  

Developing NCsoft titles for the Playstation 3 means doom..how?

This will be a positive change. NC Soft has a vested interest in this game, while Cryptic is independent.  Expect some diverse changes that they have been wanting to implement but were restricted to the capabilities, time restraints and personell issues Cryptic could allocate to this and their various other projects. I am extremely pleased. 

Originally posted by cerebrix

experience tells me that when you change dev teams completely AND studios.  then the title is doomed.

 

ncsoft is very cash light these days and honestly not doing so well financially. 

 

i hate to say it, i love CoX but this title is officially doomed.  i had hoped, if anything, cryptic would buy the title from NC....

How is NCSoft doing badly these days? They have LII which has 17 million subscribers in Asia. SOE is working on a DC comics MMO -oh...consoles-lol

Originally posted by cerebrix

experience tells me that when you change dev teams completely AND studios.  then the title is doomed.

 

ncsoft is very cash light these days and honestly not doing so well financially. 

 

i hate to say it, i love CoX but this title is officially doomed.  i had hoped, if anything, cryptic would buy the title from NC....

This is not worth arguing over. The company has  a good track record when they have full control over their product.

I hope the development of Cox continues in a good way.

I hope Viktor and (good guy, knew him from Planetside) Cryptek do well with Marvel Online.

Removing the game from Jack Emmert's influence could be a real boon for City of Heroes. Jack (aka: Statesman) always insisted that the game was going to be played his way, which alienated a lot of players. Anyone paying attention could figure that the thing with Microsoft and Marvel was going to monopolize time and resources from Cryptic since working with the big boys would be too much for Emmert's swollen ego to handle responsibly. Remember, Jack, Microsoft has a track record of pulling the plug on developing MMOs when they start to cost too much.

In any case, this is the best thing for NCSoft and City of Heroes. Now, maybe, we'll start to seem some real development.

Well, since this is the game I am currently subscribed to, i'm excited to see what happens. No point in being afraid of the future. With matt still at the helm, I have no concern it will continue to release awesome updates.

What I am really want to know more about is this little blurb in the NCSoft press release:

"NCsoft will soon be announcing formal plans for the City of Heroes IP, which will include expansions and sequels to the popular comic-book inspired massively multiplayer online (MMO) game."

Can't come soon enough...

Man doom and gloom. Shesh guys how about some positive attitude.  Okay fine I know that they are no Worlds of Warcraft but just tryo to go to Asia, go into a public computer cafe and say Lineage II suck. You will have to run for your life as the rabid fanboys (and fangirls) try to cleave you with their Magic sword +3s.

I was originally looking forward to the Marvel thingy but once I heard that it was for console only, I lost interest. Sony is suppose to be working on a DC Heroes one, so we might have another good superhero MMO. Heck if they are working with NCSoft, maybe it will have a COH feel or even make it a franchised spin-off.

Oh one other thing about COH that I have not seen in any other MMO. This place (at least on hero side) is very noob friendly and very easy to get on a team. Until someone meets those two points (as well as being a superhero) I'm going nowhere.

Cyberhuey - MUO is going to be released on the PC and Xbox360. It might require Vista though - that part hasn't been announced.

I see this announcement as a good thing. The fact that the entire CoH/V dev team is moving along with the IP is an incredibly positive sign.

At this point I think a new handle on things could only be a breath of fresh air.
They need more laborers... (animators, level designers)
and less brains... programmers and game designers.

At this point I don't think a big expansion could have done much for the game. This game is not very item based so the attachment rate is diminished there... the lack of high level content also hurts the attachment...

I'm sad that we probably will not see a City of Heroes 2.0... a World of Heroes... a City of Tomorrow... a CoH Reloaded... whatever the successors incarnation would have been like.
If we do I'm not sure it will have the appeal the original had and although I'll be first in line to play Marvel Universe Online... a nice "generic" superhero world is nice.

Cerebrex knows exactly what he's talking about when he says NCSoft is not in as good a shape financially as they previously were.    The Koreans themselves are seeing this. 

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/biz_view.asp?newsIdx=10753&categoryCode=123

Originally posted by gunbug

"ncsoft is very cash light these days and honestly not doing so well financially. "

What? Source? Again, what?

Originally posted by Lateris

 How is NCSoft doing badly these days? They have LII which has 17 million subscribers in Asia.

Originally posted by airborne519

I would expect this sort of statement from someone who obviously has no idea how successfull NCSoft is.

Read the article.

For those of you with short memories who don't remember history, NCSoft LOST Jake Song, the creator of Lineage after 'creative differences' during the development of Tabula Rasa when the Garriott Brothers were hired.

$18 million for the Garriott Brothers plus even more in stock.  That doesn't include the costs for 6 years of development of Tabula Rasa.   And TR has gotten rather mixed reviews and even the good reviews are on the lines of "It's an okay, fun game, but not great." 

This deal means NCSoft is stuck with an old superhero game and not going to get any profits from the upcoming Marvel MMO.   Even if they team with Sony on the DC MMO, who do you think is going to get most of that money?

Yeah NCSoft's CEO is a real genius.   But then who else would pay that much for the Garriotts?

hehe, i actually in mountain view :) maybe ill see some superheros

Well, this can only be a good thing for CoH/V.  CoX has reached it's limits, mostly thanks to Jack.  We'll see if NCSoft can change anything, but given their history, I wont get my hopes up.  NCSoft is legendary for their hardcore games (as in made for lifeless people), and CoX on the other hand is legendary for it's casual friendly style, which I think is the main reason why the game is still alive today - Let's hope NCSoft understands that.