Atari and Cryptic Studios have announced that Champions Online will ship worldwide for PC on July 14. From the team that created City of Heroes, the new MMO offers extensive character customization options, allowing players to customize the appearance of their powers and even craft their own arch-nemesis.

Alongside the release date, a new trailer has been released showcasing the game's nemesis creation system. You can check it out above. We also have another trailer (embedded after the break) showcasing one of the modes of transit, namely swinging. Throw some claws in there and our childhood dream of a web-slinging Wolverine will finally become a reality. The fabled Xbox 360 version of Champions Online, however, remains a mystery.

Joystiq's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

Visualizing Free Realms: An interview with Art Director Rosie Rappaport If you've been following the development of SOE's Free Realms lately, you're probably pretty excited about everything it has to offer. If you haven't been following its development, check out our extensive coverage and exclusive interviews with its developers. Ready for even more exclusive interviews? Good, because just last week Massively sat down with Rosie Rappaport, the Art Director for Free Realms, to chat about the game's distinctive art style and the concept process involved.

Massively's pre-launch interview with Runes of Magic With the game set to launch in just about a month from now, we jumped at the chance to have a chat with the folks at Frogster concerning their much-anticipated fantasy MMO. Are they on track with this March launch date? How has beta reaction been so far, and what do they have to say about the growing concern that the game is "nothing more than a cheap WoW clone"?

Yesterday's Cryptic Studios panel was a two-part affair. The majority of the hour-long panel was allotted to talk on Champions Online – a super hero MMO based off the original 80s paper-and-pencil RPG. The last five minutes were reserved for Star Trek Online. Both games yielded tons of new info.

First off, Champions will feature a lot of unique and odd weapons such as guitars. Essentially, this means you can create a "Guitar Hero" (hey, not our joke – blame executive producer Bill Roeper). The crew at Cryptic is also looking into implementing vehicles such as motorcycles, tanks ... and pogo sticks. Lastly, the formation of "super hero groups" will still follow the basic MMO guild structure, but with an integrated ranking system.

Moving on to Star Trek Online, the game was revealed to be set in the year 2409. That's 30 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis, which marks the end of the ST timeline. The MMO puts players in the captain's chair as they are tasked to command their own ship either under the banner of the Starfleet or Klingon Defense Force. Ships and bridge officers are customizable. Cryptic says to expect a lot of "beaming up and down" from ship to ground for an authentic ST feel. The most interesting reveal was the race creator, allowing players to customize their own race. See that in action after the break.

Listen up fanboys, or perhaps we should say superfans, our cohorts over at Massively have landed a pretty sweet feature. From now until the game's completion, Massively will be hosting the official Champions Online DevBlog. You remember Champions Online right? It's the superhero MMO that's headed to the PC and Xbox 360? You know, the one with superheros? Right, so the first DevBlog from Cryptic Studios head Jack Emmert is now live. The subject: Why make another superhero game after making City of Heroes?

The answer, according to Emmert, is that Cryptic learned a lot from City of Heroes and wants to use that knowledge to make an even better superhero game. Check out Emmert's DevBlog for insight on customizable powers (and customizable nemeses), comic book combat and the huge world of Champions Online.

[Thanks, Ed]

The buyout game, like any other, produces sore losers. In this case it's Ubisoft, who lost out to Atari in a bidding war for Champions Online and Star Trek Online developer Cryptic Studios.

Gamasutra quotes Ubi's CFO, Alain Martinez, as saying the company was "a bit mad [about]" losing the deal. "We were a bit disappointed," Martinez admitted, though he said Ubisoft is moving ahead with other planned acquisitions. "We have about three deals within [the] five million euro range that we are negotiating," he revealed, stating that, "Most probably, one or two of them will be closed in the next three or four months." One of those wouldn't happen to be Eidos, would it?

With all of the activity coming out of Atari lately, you'd think the once-struggling publisher stumbled across a bag of cash under the house. The company, which recently has made a habit of picking up other publisher's unwanted cast offs, today acquired City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios in what GI.biz describes as a "performance-linked deal."

The agreement includes three of Cryptic's upcoming projects, including next year's super powered MMO, Champions Online, Star Trek Online in 2010 and an as-yet-unannounced third project (Hint: something Online?) due the year after that. What's more, the report suggests that in addition to the $26.7 million in cash that Cryptic pocketed from the deal, the developer could see its coffers grow by another $20 million bonus should enough players decide to suit up in tights or explore the final frontier.

Former Blizzard director Bill Roper, whose most recent stint was co-founder and CEO of the now-defunct Flagship Studios (Hellgate: London), has joined Cryptic Studios. According to the press release, Roper will serve as Design Director for the upcoming superhero-infused MMO, Champions Online.

In an interview with GameDaily, Roper said his first order of business is to dig "deeply" into Champions Online. "There's a lot of fantastic stuff here, and we'll focus on figuring out what's working, what needs some polish and rethinking other things." CO is currently in production for PC and Xbox 360 with a tentative Spring 2009 launch, although given the timing of Roper's hire and from what he said in the interview, we wonder if that'll be pushed back.

An application for the CO beta is currently available. Cryptic Studios is also currently working on Star Trek Online, due out sometime late next year.

[Via Big Download]

Joystiq's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

	Warhammer Online's party hits 750,000 players It seems like the forces of Order and Destruction have been busy recruiting, because Gamasutra is reporting that Warhammer Online is now partying hard at 750,000 subscribers strong.
	Champions Online announces Closed Beta signups Cryptic Studios has just announced that players can now sign up for a chance to participate in the first Closed Beta of their forthcoming superhero MMO, Champions Online, with the Beta beginning in mid-November 2008. Applications can be made at the official website. The Beta is for PC only.
	Mines of Moria gets a November 18th release date Mines of Moria, the first expansion for Lord of the Rings Online, has been given a release date of November 18th for both the NA and EU today. That means we're only about a month away from ten new levels, two new classes, legendary weapons, angry Balrogs and the under-mountain Dwarf kingdom of Khazad-dum.
	Massively in Metropolis: DC Universe Online goes beyond questing The folks at SOE Austin are looking to change the playing field fairly substantially with their superhero MMO title. In fact, in a number of ways they're looking to re-examine a lot of the basic elements we think of as part and parcel with the MMO package. One great example is the concept of questing.

The PC gaming gurus at Big Download have put together the second in a series of features on Champions Online, the upcoming superhero MMO for the Xbox 360 and PC. Today's feature deals with one of the game's many zones, Monster island. As you may have guessed, Monster Island is filled with various and sundry giant monsters. Of particular note is the giant gorilla that is also on fire. The preview covers some of the creatures you'll meet and places you'll visit on monster island. The preview also discusses the gameplay design of Champions Online, including what Cryptic Studios calls "console action gameplay," in which players engage in more active play than many other MMO games. Head over to Big Download for the full scoop.

Gallery: Champions Online

E3 may be over (and it may have not been the greatest installment of the event) but Big Download has some more game impressions from the show plus some other original features to check out. Here are the highlights from the past week:

Original Features

• E3 Impressions: Check out our impressions of games from E3 like Dark Void, Damnation, Operation Flashpoint 2, and Tomb Raider Underworld
• Here There Be Heroes: Exploring the Champions universe: Take a look at the history of this super hero pen-and-paper RPG and forward to the upcoming Champions Online MMO.
• Indiedaze:TIGSource Procedural Generation Competition: Take a look at the indie games who were the winners of a recent game development contest.
• Interview: Microsoft's Kevin Unangst: We chat with the Games for Windows general manager about their decision to make Games for Windows Live free and offer the first screenshot of the revamped UI for the service.

Downloads

• Far Cry 2 E3 trailer: Check out the shoot-em-up action in this trailer promoting the Ubisoft FPS
• Project Origin E3 trailer: It's both exciting and scary at the same time. It's footage from the Monoloth shooter sequel
• Dragon Age: Origins Trailer: Check out the first gameplay footage from Bioware's long-in-development RPG
• Dawn of War II Gameplay Trailer: Check out footage from this upcoming sci-fi RTS from Relic and THQ
• DC Universe Online E3 trailer: It's the first footage from Sony Online's upcoming super hero MMO

When 2K released this morning that they had bagged the publishing rights to Champions Online, Cryptic's other superhero-based MMO, we almost wrote it off as another pre-E3 grab for coverage. But then, as we combed the release, we noticed a couple of odd things. First, though they're bringing the game to the PC and 360 in the spring of next year, there's no mention of a PS3 version, which isn't so much weird as it is sad.

Also, and this is the really odd bit, the end of the release says "Champions Online for Xbox 360 is not yet concept approved by Microsoft." We have to say, we don't really get the hold-up. A superhero MMO on the 360? Yes. Rubber-stamped. Done. You see that Microsoft? That ish just got concept approved by Joystiq. That. Just. Happened.

There's a new set of massively multiplayer hands on the wheel at Cryptic Studios, as the developer has announced the appointment of MMORPG industry vet John Needham as the company's new CEO. For those playing catch up, Cryptic, which is known for its infatuation with superheroes, developed the popular City of Heroes and City of Villains MMOs, properties it sold off to publisher NCSoft late last year before moving on to develop the decidedly not-Marvel MMO Champions Online.

Needham is not completely out of his element at Cryptic, having worked as a senior exec at Sony Online Entertainment since 2001. However, while he handled a wide range of duties at SOE, from business development to QA testing, it remains to be seen if this prepared him to don spandex and wield executive powers at the Los Gatos, CA based MMO dev.

[Via Big Download]

"From the ruins, a champion is born." When the Marvel MMO was canceled, many of us were disappointed that we would never see any form of super-powered MMO make it's way to consoles. However, as the above quote from the trailer hints, Champions Online was born out the ashes of Marvel Universe Online. Cryptic Studios is bringing the old-school RPG into the modern age with an MMORPG based on creating your own champion. The game was only recently announced, and not much is known, but the teaser does show some gameplay snippets, hinting that the team may be farther along in development than we are told. The game's environments and character designs look creative and interesting, but it takes much more than that for an MMO to succeed. As more ino about this game gets revealed, we'll have a chance to see whether Champions Online has what it takes to go the distance.