Behind Cryptic Studios lie turbulent years and the downgrade from a developer of genre-defining MMORPGs to a mere administrator. A new owner and the return of studio co-founder Jack Emmert are set to bring about change. MeinMMO spoke with the industry veteran.
What is the status of Cryptic? In recent years, it looked quite bleak for the 26-year-old Cryptic Studios at times.
- A MMORPG for Magic: The Gathering announced in 2017 turned out to be a flop and was discontinued during open beta.
- In 2021, the Embracer Group acquired Cryptic’s parent company, Perfect World Entertainment.
- In 2023, Cryptic fell victim to suddenly necessary cost-cutting measures at Embracer. All new projects were canceled, and there were layoffs.
- In March 2024, the report followed that Cryptic will only manage the existing services of Star Trek Online, Champions Online, and Neverwinter going forward. Furthermore, they are expected to support or train other teams as needed.
At this point, one of the largest and most experienced MMORPG studios from the West has developed into a mere administrator of existing services. A studio, mind you, of which almost all final published games are still live today and each has a small but dedicated community.
Only the servers of City of Heroes or City of Villains were shut down inbetween (specifically: 2012), but the rights had already been with NCSoft. But: Thanks to the privately developed Homecoming project, this superhero MMORPG still lives on today, and even with official permission from the publisher.
This underlines how important the legacy of Cryptic is for many MMORPG fans.
Neverwinter is one of the MMORPGs that continues to be supplied with new content by Cryptic to this day.
Restart after 26 years – with new, old leadership
Now, at the beginning of 2026, there is a sense of optimism at Cryptic. Reason number 1: They managed to separate from Embracer and thus free themselves from a depressing and very restrictive situation. The new owner of publisher Arc Games and Cryptic Games is called “Project Golden Arc, Inc”.
Reason number 2, announced very recently: With Jack Emmert, one of the original studio founders returns to Cryptic to assume the role of CEO and guide the direction in the future. The industry veteran has worked on all the Cryptic MMORPGs released so far and has also been responsible for continuing DC Universe Online while serving as CEO of Daybreak.
In recent years, Emmert has been working on realizing a lifelong dream with his own studio, Jackalyptic Games: the development of an MMORPG for Warhammer. However, as part of a cost-cutting program, Chinese company NetEase suspended funding for various projects from the West last year. Among them was also Jack Emmert’s Warhammer MMORPG.
At Cryptic, the developer can leave this unpleasant chapter behind and look forward. But what is on the horizon? This is exactly what MeinMMO discussed with Jack Emmert.
Jack Emmert and his new role at Cryptic
MeinMMO: Jack, you have had turbulent months behind you. It must have been incredibly bitter for the team to have to shelve the Warhammer MMORPG after all that work and search for a new job … Can you take me a bit from there? How do you look back on that time, your own studio, and the project? And how did your return to your old workplace come about? Does that have something to do with the fact that Cryptic no longer belongs to Embracer and has a new owner?
Jack Emmert: It actually has a lot to do with my return. And you are right, it was a devastating experience. I ended up in a very dark place when I had to close down the studio. As a big Warhammer fan, not being able to make the game and implement my vision was hard.
I was in contact with Yoon, the CEO of Arc Games, and he asked me if I wanted to come back. They had just initiated the separation from Embracer, and suddenly the future of Arc Games and Cryptic was back in their own hands. It was an exciting development.
Equally exciting was returning to a studio that has been around for 26 years. That’s not something you achieve easily in any industry. And I liked the idea of returning to help lay the groundwork for the next 26 years. I want to ensure that Cryptic continues to mean something to players in the future and that the studio’s legacy remains alive.
MeinMMO: So we now have publisher Arc Games, Cryptic Studios, the new owner Project Golden Arc, and the financing from XD Inc. How do all these puzzle pieces fit together? Who has the final say when it comes to the future of Cryptic?
Jack Emmert: My boss, the CEO of Arc Games, told me: Jack, do what you’ve always done, whatever you want to do. And there is so much that I still want to do. However, for the time being, my number one focus is on our current games. I want to know where they stand in detail. I want to get to know the teams. I want to get to know their communities today. We’ll come back to all other ideas when time allows.
MeinMMO: From the outside, it has been difficult to assess what remains of the old Cryptic in recent years. Therefore, I wonder: How much is still left in one of the most experienced MMORPG studios in the West?
Jack Emmert: In fact, many of the people I hired 20 years ago still work at Cryptic. But there are of course also new faces. That’s quite normal in a company of this size.
MeinMMO: What size are we talking about? How many employees does Cryptic currently consist of?
Jack Emmert: Oh, we can’t … you know, that’s internal. Let me put it this way: Our development teams are larger today than they were when I left Cryptic back then.
MeinMMO: Were you able to bring some employees from Jackalyptic into your new adventure?
Jack Emmert: I have not done that yet. I think it wouldn’t be fair to the great people already on Cryptic’s teams. I don’t want to turn everything upside down in the first weeks.
What is clear is that there were some major upheavals under Embracer. That was about a year ago. Everyone who’s here now is part of Cryptic for me. And we all have a goal: How can we make our games better in the future?
MeinMMO: New owner, your return … how does this affect existing services like Neverwinter, Star Trek Online, and Champions Online? In the preliminary announcement, it mentioned that you would like to rebuild the existing game portfolio for a new generation of players … what does that mean precisely?
Jack Emmert: This brings a reassessment of the three current games. You can’t just modernize them. They were made ten, fifteen years ago. However, you can facilitate the entry and improve the player guidance at the start.
One problem all MMORPGs face over time is that they become increasingly extensive and complex. Players who played years ago and then took a long break often hesitate to return. Addressing this is my main goal this year.
Anyone starting with Neverwinter today should have a good time from the start and have fun. The changes that have occurred over the years should not matter. Just jump in and have fun, with access to all the new content as well.
So we are sitting down with all three games to consider how we can achieve this. The people who loved one of the games back then should feel comfortable coming back.
MeinMMO: So the focus is on the current services. Is it too early to already engage with ideas for new projects or even concrete plans?
Jack Emmert: Yes, it is still too early to talk about these. Do I have plans for the future? Sure! But none of them are concrete enough. I have only been at Cryptic for two weeks.
MeinMMO: Where do you see Cryptic in 10 years? What is your long-term vision for the studio?
Jack Emmert: I want to release at least one more MMO. I want to ensure that Star Trek Online, Champions Online, and Neverwinter grow healthily on PC and consoles. There are other IPs I would love to bring to life.
MeinMMO: Can you give examples?
Jack Emmert: Warhammer, of course. I have never released a game for Marvel. Ancient mythology also fascinates me as a setting; I am a big fan of that. And then I would really like to make a fantasy pirate game. That would be something really cool.
There are many pirate-themed games out there, but I would create one where you steer an undead ship and fight against fishmen riding sea monsters or something. These are all things that are swirling around in my head. Oh, a new Star Trek game would be fantastic. Similarly, a new game for Dungeons & Dragons.
MeinMMO: Can you reveal which Warhammer universe the MMORPG would have been set in? And how likely is it that Cryptic takes on this franchise for a new game?
Jack Emmert: Unfortunately, I cannot reveal that; I would need permission from Games Workshop.
MeinMMO: The legal situation probably didn’t allow you to carry the project to Cryptic, right?
Jack Emmert: Exactly. There are a lot of factors at play, making it difficult to speculate on what could happen in terms of the IP and the specific project.
The Future of MMORPGs
MeinMMO: You have been making MMOs for so many years, worked on great games, but you have also seen some projects fail. How has the development of MMORPGs changed in your view over the past decades? Are there things today that must be considered that barely played a role back then?
Jack Emmert: The moment-to-moment gameplay is much more important today. Click A and then automatic attacks trigger just doesn’t work in the current market anymore. Therefore, much more time and craftsmanship must be invested to keep the fundamentals entertaining.
It’s no longer enough to reward players with materials for a rare recipe; they want more. Even that makes a huge difference compared to before.
MeinMMO: What does an MMORPG need today, in your view, to be successful in its niche or in the mainstream?
Jack Emmert: When a large group of players must cooperatively work together in a closed environment, you’re on the right track. We don’t have games today where 100 players fight a dragon together. Modern games don’t do that anymore. However, MMORPGs did do this before, and that is something that MMOs can do better than any other genre.
MeinMMO: Throne and Liberty tried exactly that, but it’s very guild-focused, and hardcore guilds dominate many servers.
Jack Emmert: That’s okay for me. As developers, we just need to ensure that accessibility is sufficiently high, and there are ways to achieve that. It is simply important to me that players feel that massively part of MMORPGs again, because that sets them apart from other games. Equally essential is deep character progression, but that has always been important.
MeinMMO: It’s interesting to observe that many Asian developers are currently taking the opposite approach and focusing on contents for solo players and small groups in their MMO worlds.
Jack Emmert: Yes, that is something we can already observe in the West for some time now. Games like Destiny have emerged from this. I’m not surprised that this is now happening more in Asia, especially since the focus there is much larger on mobile and hence, they have to deal with certain technical limitations.
MeinMMO: Something I’ve noticed repeatedly over the last year or two: Developers seem to avoid the term “MMORPG” whenever possible—especially when positioning a game for consoles. In 2024, New World: Aeternum was suddenly re-marketed as an “Online Action RPG.” The developers of ArcheAge Chronicles mostly use the same designation. Do you see the term “MMORPG” becoming toxic in your view, laden with negative associations? Or do you see another reason why that term is being avoided?
Jack Emmert: Personally, I embrace the term. I wouldn’t avoid it. However, I can understand that some might mistakenly believe that the MMORPG term carries a negative connotation due to things like grind or the need to commit to an MMO for an extended period.
However, the enormously successful launch of New World proved that many players still love the MMO genre today. The game quickly sold over 10 million units. And it was an MMO and was marketed as such. So why should one distance yourself from it?
MeinMMO: Last year, not only was the Warhammer MMORPG canceled, but also the Ghost project by Greg Street and the new MMO project by Zenimax. Additionally, there is a huge question mark behind Embracer’s Lord of the Rings MMO. Do you believe we will ever see another ambitious MMORPG from the West that can captivate beyond the launch honeymoon? And which already announced game do you have the highest hopes for?
Jack Emmert: I don’t want to make predictions about others’ projects. That would be disrespectful to my colleagues. I hope all the currently announced MMOs release and are successful.
The costly failures of the past are causing nobody to be willing to fork out a check for a large MMO today. I think the initial strategy was wrong in these cases, but I also understand that today, people are more cautious.
Recently, much of the financing has come from China, but that is now coming to an end as well. Nevertheless, I think that MMOs can be successful today. What players must understand is: There are no longer those large budgets from back in the day for development. You can no longer just throw 100 or 200 million US dollars into a new MMO.
What can be done instead: Develop a more focused, manageable project and grow it into something larger over time. There are many games out there whose current foundation could easily be built upon with an update or expansion.
A Helldivers 2 could easily be turned into an MMO with expansions over the years. That doesn’t mean they will do it. But that’s the model that could work today: Start with a focused project. Maybe it’s just a 10-hour RPG with coop mechanics.
The first expansion could then add an open-world experience, and later come raids, and so on. And step by step you might suddenly end up with a 100 million dollar MMO that actually consists of several interconnected parts, each of which only cost 25 million dollars to make.
MeinMMO: Ghostcrawler described exactly this path when the funding for his MMO Ghost was halted. Plan B was to first create a focused experience from the current prototype and then develop it into the original MMO idea over time. Unfortunately, he also found no investors for that.
Jack Emmert and Superhero MMORPGs
You worked on City of Heroes / City of Villains, Champions Online, and Marvel Universe Online … as CEO of Daybreak’s studio in Austin, DC Universe Online was also under your responsibility … so one could say that superhero MMOs have followed you through your career. Have you followed the Steam launch of Ship of Heroes, which wants to be a kind of spiritual successor to your works?
Jack Emmert: I have heard of it, but I probably know more about the revival project City of Heroes Homecoming.
MeinMMO: Were you surprised that NCSoft granted the operators of the Homecoming servers of City of Heroes the official permission to operate the servers? And what does it mean to you that a game you worked on so many years ago still has such a loyal community?
Jack Emmert: I think that’s a great thing. I find that wonderful. And it makes me happy that all my games I’ve ever published are still playable today. That’s really something.
MeinMMO: With all the experiences you’ve gathered … what would a superhero MMO from Jack Emmert look like today?
Jack Emmert: I would restrict the open world and choose a focused, urban setting for the game. The missions would take you inside buildings with your self-created superheroes. I would probably opt for character classes. Definitely, individual customization options for things like costumes would play a big role.
But here’s the exciting point, because I’ve always wanted to do this: To make the city feel alive, the players’ actions would affect the missions and enemies that appear in the city.
An example: The more you fight against the criminal gang number 1, the more their negative influence disappears from the streets. There is less graffiti on the walls, more expensive cars drive through the streets. What nobody knew? The gang had kept a secret cult in check. This can now spread in the city and abduct people for its rituals.
Imagine an entire city with many such relationships, and when something happens, something else always results from it. With each login, one never knows what is happening in the city.
MeinMMO: That reminds me a bit of Everquest Next, just without the terraforming.
Jack Emmert: Yes, just a bit more scripted. Everquest Next was supposed to be a bit freer in its sandbox, while mine would have more dependencies.
MeinMMO: As a conclusion to our conversation, do you perhaps have a word of hope for the many frustrated MMORPG fans out there? The last 10 years have been very mixed in terms of releases…
Jack Emmert: If you have ever played one of our games—like Neverwinter, Champions Online, or Star Trek Online—come back. Give the games a chance. I am personally playing these games again after a 10-year break, and the coming year will be all about getting to know these games and reconnecting the communities.
And while you are diving back in like I am, give me some time. Because it is as sure as the Amen in church that one day a new MMO from me will come. Stay tuned!
MeinMMO: Jack, thank you very much for the exciting insights and your time. I wish you and the team at Cryptic all the best!
Until we can look forward to a completely new MMORPG from Cryptic, it will certainly take several years. However, some fresh online role-playing games will be released in 2026. You can find the new releases we are currently most hopeful for here: MMORPGs 2026 – The 8 most promising online role-playing games scheduled to be released this year
