City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios have found a publisher for their next superhero MMO, Champions Online - none other than 2K Games. The MMO, in development for the Xbox 360 and PC (though Microsoft hasn't approved the concept yet), will mark 2K's first entry into the MMO market.

“2K Games is a terrific publishing partner for Champions Online,” said John Needham, CEO of Cryptic Studios. “Cryptic is proud that Champions Online will be 2K’s first MMO title and we look forward to working together towards a tremendous launch next year.”

An interesting move on the part of Take-Two's publishing arm, delving into this new industry segment while TT is still being eyed like a giant cartoon roast chicken by EA. I suppose it doesn't hurt to baste every now and then.

More Signs Point To Cryptic As Star Trek Online Developer

One would think that Star Trek and massively multiplayer online gaming are the chocolate and peanut butter of a nerdy good time. Whatever the outcome, it seems like money in the bank, regardless of the dominance of World of Warcraft. Still, it's been a rough go, with Star Trek Online festering at Perpetual until that developer gave up the ghost.

While rumors abound that Cryptic Studios—now hard at work on Champions Online—were picking up the license, various sites are pointing more fingers at the Bay Area dev, with TrekMovie.com calling it "confirmed." It sounds like it's pretty much a done deal. Now all we need is the official word.

Cryptic Confirmed As New Developer for Star Trek Online [TrekMovie via GameSpot]

City of Heroes Devs Rumored To Take Over Star Trek Online

The troubled development history of Star Trek Online may have gotten a shot in the arm, now that the MMO is rumored to be in development at Cryptic Studios. While rumored cancellation of Marvel Universe Online isn't exactly the best (still unconfirmed) news for the developer, having someone work on Star Trek Online is better than no one. w00t Studios says it has anonymous sources pointing to the new home of STO, who recently sold off rights to City of Heroes to owner NCsoft, who in turn created a new subsidiary with Cryptic staffers at its core. Frankly, I'm starting the whole swirling of intellectual properties and people a bit dizzying. Someone replicate me a hypospray.

RED ALERT! CAPTAIN EMMERT TO THE BRIDGE! [w00tStudios - thanks, Mike!]

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 Animation Rig For Everybody!

"Our goal is to foster a community of animators by providing them the power to generate animations without having to worry about supporting a toolset. Since we were already developing the rig for our core technology team, we decided to release it to the public under the GNU GPL," said Shayne Herrera, Art Development Director for Cryptic Studios. "We feel that the development and gaming communities will benefit greatly from a professional tool like the Cryptic AR."

Feature: Marvel, Cryptic and MGS Talk Marvel Universe Online