At the beginning of the year, there were two competing superhero MMOs on their way. Sony was developing DC Universe Online at their Austin MMO studio, and City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios was making Marvel Universe Online. Talk about splitting your fan base. These two games would have eaten other other alive. However, Cryptic blinked first. They canceled Marvel Universe Online and immediately announced Champions Online. On other words, development continued without the Marvel licensing. Sorry Hulk, X-Men, Spiderman, et al. These games are still going to be fierce cometitors, but now DC Universe Online continues unopposed as the only officially licensed comics MMO.

A few new screenshots were just released. I think comics fans will recognize some of these guys, but I mostly see a bunch of buff dudes in silly costumes, including Nightcrawler dressed as Superman. Where's Batman?