14 DAY TRIAL // China-based MMO-oriented publisher Perfect World has announced that it is taking over developer Cryptic Studios, based in Los Gatos, California, presumably in order to further develop its massive multiplayer online experiences.
[ADMARk=1]The price that Perfect World paid for Cryptic is 50.3 million dollars, which is significantly more than the price that former owner Atari paid for the same studio back in 2008, 27.5 million.
Atari got rid of Cryptic earlier in the spring, saying that it had plans to focus on video games delivered via download on the PC, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 and saw no further uses for the studio.
At the moment Perfect World runs games like Legends of Martial Arts, which is an MMO based around traditional fighting techniques that is free to play, and Battle of the Immortals, which has been described as being similar to World of Warcraft from Blizzard.
Perfect World is also thought to be working on a number of other MMO projects that Cryptic Studios could help with.
Cryptic has so far created a number of MMOs, none of them very successful.
The latest release is Star Trek Online, a game that despite using a very well-known license has failed to attract a huge number of players.
Star Trek Online suffered from a lack of content initially, but Cryptic has worked on it since launch and has vastly improved the MMO.
Cryptic has also created Champions Online, based on a pen and paper license, and the game has apparently done pretty well since going free to play.
Both titles can now enter the Chinese market, which could result in a huge increase in player numbers, and there's also a possibility that Star Trek Online might go free to play in the near future.
The acquisition is seen as a good way for Perfect World to enter the Western market.