Atari has bought the Californian MMO developer Cryptic Studios.

In what Infogrames describes as a performance-based deal, Cryptic – which is currently working on three MMO titles – has been purchased outright for some $28 million, with further variable payments determined by the sales performance of the upcoming Champions Online and Star Trek Online.

Atari's parent company Infogrames says the deal is in line with the firm’s strategy to “become a leading online game developer and publisher".

The sales-performance-related bonuses could add up to $20m to the acquisition deal, depending on whether Champions Online and Star Trek’s sales can match Atari’s (undisclosed) performance targets.

One of Atari’s key staff behind its online-driven business strategy, David Gardner, said of the deal: "The acquisition of Cryptic Studios brings to Infogrames an outstanding creative organisation, with a proven track-record of success in the fast-growing MMO category. Cryptic's success is founded on leading-edge technology and the vision of a seasoned executive management team.”

Cryptic, the outfit behind City of Heroes and City of Villains, has reportedly earned above $100m for NCsoft. The studio’s three newest titles are set to be released over the next three years, with Champions Online coming in 2009, Star Trek Online set for release in 2010, and an as-yet-unannounced title following in 2011.

"I am impressed with the tools and technology that Cryptic has developed to make MMOs less expensive to build,” Gardner says. “Creating vast worlds and interesting interactions can be very people intensive but with the use of Cryptic's toolset they have a proven way of cutting average production costs in half. This is exactly the type of company we wanted to acquire in order to build Atari for the 21st century.” 

Atari will also be using the studio’s propriety tech for other games it plans to release, though the details of which remain unannounced.

John Needham, CEO of Cryptic said of the deal: "We share a common vision with Atari and their leadership team. With our game development and online platform technology skills, we're very excited about the opportunities that this unique combination with Atari creates. I am committed to helping Atari grow into a leading online game company and look forward to being part of the team."

Infogrames’ announcement on the deal can be found here.