Champions Online 360: No "huge" wait over PC version, says Roper

Champions Online will be one of 360's first MMOs, Cryptic design boss Bill Roper has told VG247, and has promised there won't be a "huge gap of time" between the PC version on June 14 and the console SKU.

"I do, I really do, and we're really excited about that," said the exec of the chances of being one of the first MMOs on the Microsoft system.

"I think the consoles are ripe for having a really great MMO, and I think the players have got to be really excited about that. The platform has matured, the connectivity has matured enough to where the time to do it, really, is now. We're just looking forward to getting it done."

Roper said a date wasn't fixed the the superhero game's 360 version, but that it is being full developed alongside the PC title.

"I don't have a date, I don't have a window, because we haven't been given any separate requirement for that, but I don't think it will be a huge gap of time for when it follows," he added.

"It's not going to be a year later, or something like that. We spin builds every day, QA makes sure everything's still working, the engine works great on 360, all the server stuff works well. We still make sure everything works.

"For the most part we put a lot of focus on the UI. That, of course, is one of the biggest features: that it plays and feels really good on consoles."

The 360 version has been pushed back thanks to both wrangling between Atari and Microsoft on the game's console launch, Roper said, and the fact Cryptic's focused on the PC SKU because it has more control over its launch.

"We've been putting a lot of focus on the PC version because we have a lot of control about how that releases, when it releases, requirements, all those kind of things. There's always a lot of things to get worked out when you've got big companies working with each other. There's obviously a lot of stuff for Atari and Microsoft to hammer out in terms of bringing an MMO to the consoles, and 360 specifically."

To date, 360 has been very sparsely populated with MMOs, the only "traditional" examples being FFXI and Phantasy Star Universe.

Roper was talking in a phone interview yesterday.