Converting from a pure subscription-based title to a hybrid free-to-play (F2P) is something than more than one MMO title has seen happen. And generally the indication from the studio is that such a move makes mad bank. When Cryptic Studios converted Champions Online to F2P, they said revenue went up 1000%; when Turbine Studios converted … Continue reading
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City of Heroes / Villains: The Killing of Statesman, And Where We Go From Here
Back in December, Paragon Studios spoilered their own story when they publicly announced that Statesman would be the one to die in the “Who Will Die?” signature story arc. That Statesman is apparently dying in part 5 of what I believe to be a 7 part story arc raises my Eyebrow of Cynicism +3 – … Continue reading
DCUO: The Power of The Green
Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) had its fan gathering recently and used it (as they typically do) to announce new content and features to those in attendance. DC Universe Online got its own announcement – the Green Lantern-based “Fight for the Light” expansion, with new powers, new areas, new missions, new costumes and probably some other … Continue reading
Insert Coin To Continue: Perfect World Buys Cryptic Studios
Atari has sold Cryptic Studios to Chinese online game developer Perfect World for €35 million (US$50.5m), pending the final factors of the deal coming together. I’m sure it will, which is why they announced it, so Cryptic’s ownership will be transferred over and thus Cryptic will continue under its third master after NCsoft (sure, not really … Continue reading
It’s Been An Interesting Week
A number of things happened this week in the realm of superhero MMOs. Knowing how much I can write on about things, I’ll try to keep it brief. How Now, Mr Cao? Oh, so childish. But anyway: Chris Cao was rumoured to have left DC Universe Online on DCUO’s own forums, so it would have … Continue reading
The Very, Very Late 2010 MMO Recap (Part 1)
A Note of Explanation At the end of 2010, I wrote up a recap of the year’s MMO-related events for a particular site, as I’ve done for a few years. Given that it’s now almost May, I don’t think that site is going to use it, but I’m really loathe to throw out all the … Continue reading
John Needham Crosses Universes: From Cryptic to Gazillion
I actually missed the first part of this story since I was travelling: fan favourite pinata Jack Emmert has become Cryptic’s new CEO after John Needham chose “to depart the company to pursue other opportunities within the games industry”. Said opportunities are becoming the CEO of Gazillion. An interesting move, and one that leaves Gazillion … Continue reading
Champions Online Goes F2P; Surprises Few
Funnily enough, Champions Online announces it is going fully free-to-play (F2P) just days after I post a comment that it probably isn’t going to see any growth under a subscription model. Such is my power. I’ve had a quick scan around and not seen anyone else connect up that ChampO is going F2P the week … Continue reading
Battle Royale: CoH/V vs ChampO vs DCUO vs SHSO vs Marvel MMO
Back in 2008 (sheeh, that long ago?) I wrote a piece on City of Heroes / Villains versus Champions Online versus DC Universe Online. It’s time for a review of how these direct competitors are travelling, plus the new challengers in this space. City of Heroes / Villains (Paragon Studios / NCsoft) The self-proclaimed “world’s … Continue reading
It’s Important For Tech Companies To Update Their Websites Too
One rough sign of company health in this modern age is the state of their website, notably how often it is updated. This is especially true of companies in the technology space, like Cryptic. Of note is that their Executive Team page is wildly out of date (alterations are mine): Craig ‘Zinc’ Zinkievich announced his … Continue reading
World Class Villains 