Lyon, France - France-based video game publisher Infogrames, the parent company of Atari, announced on Tuesday that it will acquire Los Gatos, Calif.-based Cryptic Studios, a developer of massively multiplayer online games, for $27.6 million in cash and shares.

An earn-out bonus of $20 million will also be paid if Cryptic hits certain performance targets.

Founded in 2000, Cryptic has developed titles including "City of Heroes" and "City of Villains," which have generated over $100 million in revenues and count up to 180,000 peak subscribers.

The studio is currently developing three new titles, planned for release over the next three years, including "Champions Online," "Star Trek Online" and an as-yet-unnamed game.

Infogrames said that Atari will benefit from Cryptic's development team, as well as its proprietary engine, content development tools and online server architecture.

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http://www.infogrames.com

http://crypticstudios.com