Champions Online not playing warcraft

Cryptic Studios CEO John Needham has explained that the developer’s upcoming superhero MMO Champions Online will not look to take on the World of Warcraft market.

In an interview published on Champions Online Daily News, Needham explained that a key feature for Champions Online is establishing its own identity in the tough MMO market.

“We’re doing different kinds of games to standard fantasy fare,” he said. “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.”

“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.”

Needham also insisted that the upcoming title will be different enough to avoid direct competition with Blizzard’s kingpin MMO.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Full Disclosure: Champions Online Daily News is produced by Intent Social Media, a subsidiary of Intent Media.