Changes: Cryptic Studios

Latest revision as of 13:12, 12 August 2018

Cryptic Studios
CrypticLogo.jpg
Type	Private
Founded	2000
Defunct
Headquarters	Los Gatos, California
Products	MMOG games
Parent Company
Website	http://www.crypticstudios.com

Cryptic Studios, Inc. is a relatively young game developer company based in Los Gatos, Northern California. Formed in June 2000, it has so far produced two titles: City of Heroes, and its 'expanshalone' City of Villains, both are MMOGs based in a comic-book world of superheroes and supervillains. Both games were published by NCSoft, well known in the MMO business. It is continuing to produce content for both of these titles, with major updates coming several times a year. No future titles have so far been announced, but it's likely they will continue to produce expanshalones for CoH semi-regularly (one possible title that's been thrown around is 'City of Spies').

The Marvel Lawsuit[ | ]

One non-game related event worthy of note is the lawsuit Marvel filed over copyright issues in City of Heroes. On November 10th, 2004, Marvel claimed that the incredibly varied character generator was little more than a means of cloning Marvel characters. This drew widespread criticism for two main reasons. First, the character creator led to the cloning of Marvel characters no more than a box of crayons and a piece of paper, it is up to the user to create something original or derivative. Second, several of Marvel's claims were false:
- That Cryptic had no characters of their own, so cloning must be the intent (There is an actual CoH comic book, and hundreds of other characters are present in the game).
- That Cryptics characters were themselves clones of Marvel characters (seemingly contradicting the above point). For example, a claim that the main character Statesman wore Magneto's helmet and Captain America's shield. In fact, Statesman wears a faceplate, not a helmet, and does not carry a shield at all. (reference)
- Several of the infringing characters Marvel submitted as evidence for the case were, in fact, created by Marvel itself to use in the case.(reference)
- Cryptic was already enforcing copyrights within the game themselves, by deleting or changing the names of infringing characters.

On March 9th, 2005, a U.S. district court judge dismissed several of the claims, and on December 14th, the case was settled. While the exact settlement was not disclosed, it was generally considered to be a win for Cryptic and NCSoft as none of Marvel's possible goals (such as dismantling of the character creator or suspension of service) appeared to have taken place. It is also worth noting that no other comic companies, such as DC, have made any moves toward legal action.

Titles[ | ]

City of Heroes(May 1st, 2004) - MMOG/MMORPG
City of Villains(October 31st, 2005) - MMOG/MMORPG

External links[ | ]

www.crypticstudios.com - Official website.
www.ncsoft.com - Official website of NCSoft.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Infobox Company
+{{Company| title = Cryptic Studios
+|type = Private
-|company_name=Cryptic Studios
+|image = CrypticLogo.jpg
-|company_logo=[[Image:Cryptic logo.png]]
+|founded = 2000
-|company_slogan=
+|headquarters = Los Gatos, California
-|foundation=2000
+|products = [[MMOG]] games
-|location=[[Los Gatos, California]]
+|parent =
-|key_people=John Needham, <small>[[chief executive officer|CEO]]</small>; <br /> Bruce Rogers, <small>[[chief technology officer|CTO]]</small>; <br /> [[Bill Roper]], <small>[[chief creative officer|CCO]]</small>; <br /> Jack Emmert, <small>[[chief operations officer|COO]]</small>; <br /> Hindol Datta, <small>[[chief financial officer|CFO]]</small>
+|website = http://www.crypticstudios.com
-|area_served=
-|industry=[[Computer and video game industry|Computer gaming]]
-|products=''[[City of Heroes]]'', ''[[City of Villains]]'', ''[[Champions Online]]'', ''[[Star Trek Online]]''
-|revenue=
-|operating_income=
-|net_income=
-|num_employees=100–200 (2007)
-|parent=independent company (2000–2008)<br>[[Atari]] (2008–present)<br><ref name="AtariAcquisition">{{cite web |url=http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/atari-to-acquire-cryptic-studios/?biz=1 |title=Atari to Acquire Cryptic Studios |accessdate=2008-12-09 |last=Brightman |first=James |date=2008-12-09 |publisher=[[GameDaily]]}}</ref>
-|subsid=
-|homepage=http://www.crypticstudios.com
-|footnotes=
 }}
+'''Cryptic Studios, Inc.''' is a relatively young [[Video game developer|game developer]] company based in Los Gatos, Northern California. Formed in June 2000, it has so far produced two titles: [[City of Heroes]], and its 'expanshalone' [[City of Villains]], both are [[MMOG]]s based in a comic-book world of superheroes and supervillains. Both games were published by [[NCSoft]], well known in the MMO business. It is continuing to produce content for both of these titles, with major updates coming several times a year. No future titles have so far been announced, but it's likely they will continue to produce expanshalones for CoH semi-regularly (one possible title that's been thrown around is 'City of Spies').
+==The Marvel Lawsuit==
-'''Cryptic Studios''', an [[Atari, Inc.]] subsidiary[http://www.massively.com/2008/12/09/atari-acquires-cryptic-studios/][]<ref name="AtariAcquisition">[http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/atari-acquires-cryptic-studios Atari acquires Cryptic Studios]</ref>, is a small American developer of [[MMORPG|massively multiplayer online role-playing games]] headquartered in [[Los Gatos, California]].
+One non-game related event worthy of note is the lawsuit Marvel filed over copyright issues in City of Heroes. On [[November 10]]th, [[2004]], Marvel claimed that the incredibly varied character generator was little more than a means of cloning Marvel characters. This drew widespread criticism for two main reasons. First, the character creator led to the cloning of Marvel characters no more than a box of crayons and a piece of paper, it is up to the user to create something original or derivative. Second, several of Marvel's claims were false:
+<br />- That Cryptic had no characters of their own, so cloning must be the intent (There is an actual CoH comic book, and hundreds of other characters are present in the game).
+<br />- That Cryptics characters were themselves clones of Marvel characters (seemingly contradicting the above point). For example, a claim that the main character Statesman wore Magneto's helmet and Captain America's shield. In fact, Statesman wears a faceplate, not a helmet, and does not carry a shield at all. ([http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,65722,00.html reference])
+<br />- Several of the infringing characters Marvel submitted as evidence for the case were, in fact, created by Marvel itself to use in the case.([http://plaync.com/about/2005/03/federal_judge_d.html reference])
+<br />- Cryptic was already enforcing copyrights within the game themselves, by deleting or changing the names of infringing characters.
+On [[March 9]]th, [[2005]], a U.S. district court judge dismissed several of the claims, and on [[December 14]]th, the case was settled. While the exact settlement was not disclosed, it was generally considered to be a win for Cryptic and NCSoft as none of Marvel's possible goals (such as dismantling of the character creator or suspension of service) appeared to have taken place. It is also worth noting that no other comic companies, such as DC, have made any moves toward legal action.
-==History==
-Established in June 2000, Michael Lewis and Rick Dakan conceived the idea for Cryptic Studios.
+==Titles==
-"Rick and I wanted to do an online role-playing game," Lewis told the ''Los Gatos Weekly Times'' for an article published January 31, 2007. "We'd been role-playing gamers growing up, and thought that online would be a great way to continue that experience, while overcoming the distances involved. We decided that there were too many fantasy games in development—this was [[1999 in video gaming|1999]], so we discussed many alternatives. [[Superheroes]] quickly rose to the top of the list. It is something people could understand and identify with quickly, versus ideas like science fiction or horror, because it provides an infinite background on which to create adventures of all kinds. And who doesn't want to have super powers?"<ref>[http://www.community-newspapers.com/archives/lgwt/20070131/cover1.shtml Los Gatos Weekly-Times - Cover Story | 0705 | Wednesday, January 31, 2007<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
+[[File:CrypticLogo.gif|thumb|left]]
+* [[City of Heroes]]([[May 1]]st, [[2004]]) - MMOG/[[MMORPG]]
-At a [[New Year]]'s party in 1999, Lewis and Dakan met Bruce Rogers, Matt Harvey and Cameron Petty, veterans of [[Atari]]'s [[arcade game|Coin Operated Games]] division who had begun trying to found a computer game company but lacked funding.
+* [[City of Villains]]([[October 31]]st, [[2005]]) - MMOG/MMORPG
-In 2000, Lewis sold his company, Stellar Semiconductor, Inc., to [[Broadcom Corporation]]. With Lewis' funding and Rogers' expertise, the group formed Cryptic Studios. [[Role-playing game]] writer Jack Emmert joined the team to work on game design.
-[[Image:Cryptic logo old.png|right|thumb|Cryptic Studios logo, 2000–2007]]In March 2007, Cryptic Studios moved to a larger corporate headquarters in [[Los Gatos, California]]. Plans for the new headquarters include adding a state-of-the-art sound studio to be built by the [[Walters-Storyk Design Group]].<ref>[http://gameinvasion.comcast.net/gameinvasion/news/article/1173285420771_cryptic_studios_ushers_new_era Game Invasion: News<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> At that time the company also adopted a new corporate logo.  Cryptic Studios now employs more than 100 full-time employees.
-On December 9, 2008, [[Atari SA]] announced that it had acquired Cryptic Studios.<ref name="AtariAcquisition">[http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/atari-acquires-cryptic-studios Atari acquires Cryptic Studios]</ref>
-On March 2010, Bill Roper was promoted to Chief Creative Officer, succeeding Emmert (who became the Chief Operations Officer), but left the studio in August that same year <ref name="Bill Roper Departs Cryptic Studios">[http://www.champions-online.com/node/595033 Bill Roper Departs Cryptic Studios]</ref>.
-==Products==
-===City of Heroes/Villains===
-{{main|City of Heroes|City of Villains}}
-In early 2002, Cryptic signed a [[video game publisher|publishing agreement]] for ''City of Heroes'' with [[NCSoft]], which wanted to expand into the United States gaming market.<ref>[http://www.forbes.com/smallbusiness/free_forbes/2004/1004/100_2.html Ordinary Hero - Forbes.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
-Cryptic Studios' first MMORPG, ''[[City of Heroes]]'', was launched on April 28, 2004. On October 31, 2005, it launched ''[[City of Villains]]'', a separate game that was linked with ''City of Heroes'' through [[PVP|player-vs.-player]] combat zones.
-{{As of|2007|11}}, Cryptic Studios had released ten free expansions for ''City of Heroes'' and ''City of Villains''.
-On November 6, 2007, Cryptic announced that it had sold the ''City of Heroes''/''City of Villains'' [[intellectual property]] to [[NCSoft]].  All of the ''City of Heroes''/''City of Villains'' development team transitioned to work under NCSoft under the working title NCNorCal (NCNC), which later became the NCSoft-owned subsidiary, [[Paragon Studios]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.plaync.com/us/news/2007/11/ncsoft_announce_23.html |title=City of Heroes Announcement |quote=Regarding the NCSoft Acquisition of City of Heroes}}</ref>
-===Champions Online===
-{{main|Champions Online}}
-{{see also|Marvel Universe Online}}
-On September 27, 2006, [[Marvel Entertainment]] and Cryptic announced that Cryptic Studios was developing ''Marvel Universe Online'', the [[Marvel universe]] MMO video game to be published by [[Microsoft Game Studios]] for exclusive release to  [[Windows Vista]] (and [[Xbox 360]], which was later cancelled in March 2010).<ref>[http://www.xbox365.com/news.cgi?id=GGNLPLuuiL09271137 Marvel Universe Online Announced<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> February 7, 2008, [[Shane Kim]] of [[Microsoft Game Studios]] reported that MUO was canceled.<ref>[http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/02/11/microsofts-shane-kim-on-fable-2-why-marvel-mmo-was-canceled-and-more/ Shane Kim on MUO cancellation]</ref>  Cryptic Studios said development would continue using a new IP license of [[The Champions (Hero Universe)|The Champions]] and became ''Champions Online''.
-Cryptic Studios released ''Champions Online'', loosely based on a superhero-based role-playing game, on September 1, 2009.  Cryptic Studios had announced this title on February 14, 2008.
-===Star Trek Online===
-{{main|Star Trek Online}}
-{{see also|Star Trek games#Video games}}
-On July 27, 2008, Cryptic announced that they had acquired the license to continue development of a [[Star Trek]] based MMORPG previously developed by [[Perpetual Entertainment]]. Earlier, on March 13, 2008, ''Star Trek'' news site TrekMovie.com reported Cryptic Studios as the developer for ''Star Trek Online'' based on unnamed sources, confirming a several-weeks-old rumor.<ref name="TrekMovieCryptic">[http://trekmovie.com/2008/03/13/cryptic-confirmed-as-new-developer-for-star-trek-online/ Cryptic Confirmed As New Developer for Star Trek Online]</ref>.
-Star Trek Online was officially launched on February 2nd, 2010.  The game resembles an action-oriented MMORPG, with combat and features divided between Space environments and Ground environments during play.
-===Other projects===
-On May 9, 2007, Cryptic Studios released the Cryptic Animation Rig (Cryptic AR), a free download that gives animators the same tools used by Cryptic to create its games.<ref>[http://www.crypticar.com/ Cryptic Animation Rig - Home<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
-Cryptic Studios' Web site contains several images of concept art from one or more additional games currently in development.<ref name="Cryptic Studios - Home">[http://www.crypticstudios.com Cryptic Studios - Home<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> One of these games is rumored to be a Neverwinter, new CORPG game.<ref name="Gamasutra - News - Turbine Sues Atari For At Least $30 Million Over Dungeons & Dragons MMO">[http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24997 Gamasutra - News - Turbine Sues Atari For At Least $30 Million Over Dungeons & Dragons MMO<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
-==Corporate culture==
-Cryptic Studios actively recruits outside the gaming industry, and executives say they focus on skill, talent and intelligence rather than experience.<ref>[http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm?gameId=3&setView=features&loadFeature=1039&bhcp=1 City of Heroes : Cryptic Studios Recruitment - City of Heroes for PC at MMORPG.COM<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Unusual employee benefits include complementary breakfasts twice a week and an on-site game room.<ref>[http://www.crypticstudios.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=88&Itemid=39 Cryptic Studios - Cryptic Employee Benefits<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
-==See also==
-* [[Digimation]]
-* [[Role-playing game]]
-==References==
-<references />
 ==External links==
-*[http://www.crypticstudios.com/ Cryptic Studios]
+* [http://crypticstudios.com/index.php www.crypticstudios.com] - Official website.
+* [http://www.ncsoft.com www.ncsoft.com] - Official website of NCSoft.
-*[http://www.community-newspapers.com/archives/lgwt/20070131/cover1.shtml Article that details the history of the company]
-*[http://www.atari.com/us Atari Inc.'s Official Site]
-{{City of Heroes}}
-{{Video game companies of the United States}}
-[[Category:Atari]]
-[[Category:Companies established in 2000]]
-[[Category:City of Heroes]]
-[[Category:Video game companies of the United States]]
-[[Category:Video game developers]]
-[[Category:Companies based in Silicon Valley]]
+[[Category:Game developers]]
-[[ca:Cryptic Studios]]
-[[de:Cryptic Studios]]
-[[es:Cryptic Studios]]