2K, part of Take Two, has announced having entered into an agreement with Cryptic Studios regarding the distribution of the upcoming MMO Champions Online. As soon as the developers finish the work on the title, 2K will assume all the duties related to publishing the game and to supporting the launch.

Cryptic is probably best known for developing and providing support for another MMO focused around heroes, City of Heroes/City of Villains, a game which has a rather small but dedicated following. Champions Online will be a direct competitor to City of Heroes, but the developers say that the game concepts are different enough to allow people to enjoy both titles.

Champions Online is based on the classic pen and paper RPG system Champions, which was developed by Hero Games. It is not founded on dice rolls and offers the player the possibility to create a character by distributing points across disciplines and abilities. The system is easier to learn and play with than those which are based on dice rolls.

Cryptic Studios says that the game will "give players the power of total customization of their hero experience while they explore a vast universe of richly detailed 3D environments". The developers hope that the launch of the MMO will also lead to a resurgent popularity for the pen and paper game.

Christoph Hartmann, who is the president at 2K, stated that "2K Games is excited to work with such a talented group as Cryptic Studios. Given their stellar pedigree and amazing grasp of the MMO genre, we are confident that Champions Online will deliver an innovative and exciting action MMO experience to gamers".

Champions Online is set to launch for the PC and the Xbox 360 gaming console but, so far, Microsoft has not approved the game concept submitted by Cryptic and we might see a delay and even a cancellation of the Xbox 360 version of the title.