14 DAY TRIAL // Champions Online will probably never get to be as popular as the current king of the MMOs, World of Warcraft from Blizzard; still, the game will surely find a niche market amongst those interested in superpowers, made villains and saving the world.
The videogame is set to arrive on September 1 but only those who play on the PC will be able to enjoy it initially. The fact that the Xbox 360 version of Champions Online is not debuting on the same date seems to have something to do with Microsoft and its approval process.
Jack Emmert, who is the Chief Operation Officer of Cryptic Studios, the maker of the game, has told VG247 that “Microsoft's a big company, and they have to work out all the various issues related to MMOs. It just takes time for the big beast known as Microsoft to get moving. I really have no explanation other than that, because it's as baffling to developers as it is to everyone else”.
Cryptic says that the MMO is ready to come out on the Xbox 360 and that considerations related to how Xbox Live works seem to be the cause behind Microsoft’s not approving the game at the moment.
It's not clear how long the process will take and whether the title will see a release date this year, which means that the buzz around Champions Online will probably be long gone before the Xbox 360 version is out. Superheroes might be able to do a lot of things in videogame but they probably will not be able to get Xbox 360 users to pick up the game if the release is delayed significantly.
The people at Square Enix, who have been working on Final Fantasy XIV, have reported similar problems with Microsoft, meaning that the Square Enix MMO will not be coming to the latter’s gaming console.