Champions Online swoops onto PCs July 14

In early February 2008, Cryptic Studios was dealt a significant blow by Microsoft, after the publisher opted to cancel the City of Heroes developer's massively multiplayer online game based in the Marvel Comics universe. However, Cryptic recovered faster than Wolverine from a paper cut, announcing not a week later that it would proceed with its superhero-themed MMOG under the new moniker Champions Online, a property based on Hero Games' pen-and-paper role-playing series first published in 1981.

With the game only announced 14 months ago, Cryptic and parent company Atari today confirmed that Champions Online will launch for the PC in North America and Europe on July 14. An Xbox 360 edition of the game, which was announced prior to Champions Online being dropped by Take-Two and picked up by Atari, is also planned for release. However, no mention of that version was made as part of today's announcement, and Cryptic had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.

Designed heavily around player choice, Champions Online features myriad character customization options, ranging from body structure to costumes to superpowers. GameSpot recently sat down with Cryptic for an extensive look at the superhero-themed MMOG, covering topics ranging from players' custom archvillains to the various superpowers.

For more information, check out the rest of GameSpot's previous coverage of Champions Online.