NCsoft® Corp, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, today announced the formation of a new development studio in Mountain View, California. The announcement comes as the company begins a renewed push to further develop the City of Heroes® property, which is now 100 percent owned by NCsoft. Previous to today, ownership of the intellectual property (IP) was split between NCsoft and Cryptic Studios, the original developer of the project.

Hmmmm… that’s very very intriguing.

Cryptic has the developer while NCsoft is the publisher of the City of Heroes/Villains franchise. The City of Heroes/Villains franchise has about 150k monthly subscribers with a peak of just under 200k. That gives them a gross revenue of about 27million. I should also note that NCsoft hired the entire development and support team away from Crypti.c

Consider this news from the last year:

  1. NCsoft has joined with Sony to produce games for the PS3
  2. Cryptic is making Marvel Universe online which will be publish by Microsoft and will be available for the PC and Xbox 360
  3. SOE will be making and producing DC universe online

 

So pre NCsoft purchase:
NCsoft & Cryptic – CoX
Microsoft & Cryptic – MUO
SOE & SOE – DCO<

 

Post-purchase:
NCsoft & <new studio> - CoX
Microsoft & Cryptic – MUO
SOE & SOE – DCO

 

What the NCsofts’ purchase does is to remove Cryptic from creating two of the three superheroes games in a niche market. As a CoX player I really like this idea. They have kept the dev team from CoX. There was a very real fear that Cryptic would cannibalize them to help with MUO. I also have to wonder if that means we will see Cox on the PS3?

I can’t wait to see what NCsoft paid Cryptic. You have a three year old game in a niche market with it’s own IP, that within two years, will have two contenders with very broad and deep IPs. So what is that unique IP worth? What kind of profit does CoX make? Does the new studio get to use the engine and character creator to make a new game?

I would guess 20 million. I will follow up on it once NCsoft releases it’s fourth quarter numbers in three months.