John Needham, Cryptic Studios CEO, has affirmed that Champions Online is completely different from the typical MMO game and won’t poach from others.
He argues the superhero MMO can be enjoyed ”right alongside World of Warcraft” and others, with the goal of having Champions Online as ”simple to get into as possible for anyone”.
”We’re doing different kinds of games to standard fantasy fare. So Champions Online is a superhero game, and it’s a lot different to a World of Warcraft or Everquest because you don’t need to invest twenty to thirty hours a week in Champions to really succeed in the game,” Needham tells Champions Online Daily News in an interview.
”When you look at games like Conan and Warhammer, they were directly competitive to World of Warcraft and they forced players to make a choice. Am I going to subscribe to Conan or am I going to subscribe to World of Warcraft?”
”We’ve designed our games so players don’t need to make that choice. Champions can be played right alongside World of Warcraft or EQ,” stated the Cryptic boss.
It’s a much easier going MMO on the new comer he explains, and doesn’t require near religious devotion to have fun with it. ”Accessibility is something we talk about all the time. We want Champions to be as simple to get into as possible for anyone. People love superheroes, so we want to make a game for them, regardless of their experience with MMOs. This game is easy for them to get into and have a lot of fun playing.”
One other MMO that will be going head-to-head with Champions Online is Cryptic’s previous superhero creation, City of Heroes/Villains. ”We have a lot of fans that play City of Heroes (NCSoft) so I think we’ll get a lot of them coming over and seeing what we have to offer with Champions Online,” added Needham.
Does this new superhero world soon to arrive have you practicing your witty quips? Perhaps swords, horses and flaming elementals are more your thing?
