Publisher Infogrames/Atari has been on a growth spurt lately after years of decline and today the company announced perhaps their biggest acquisition yet; MMO developer Cryptic Studios. The publisher will buy Cryptic for $26.7 million in up front money. Yet another $20 million could be given to Cryptic depending on the performance of their upcoming games.

Those games include the super hero MMO Champions Online, due for release in 2009, and Star Trek Online which Infogrames/Atari states will be released in 2010. In addition a third unannounced MMO is due for release in 2011. Not only that but Infogrames/Atari will use Cryptic's MMO tech for other unannounced games. One question that is unanswered in the press release is whether 2K Games will continue to be the publisher for Champions Online.