Gaming: Cryptic Rises Again? Former CEO Jack Emmert Returns To The...

Cryptic split from Embracer Group last year, and now one of its co-founders is back at the reins.

One of the casualties of NetEase's retreat from overseas development was Jackalyptic Games, an Austin-based studio run by veteran MMO designer Jack Emmert. That studio's Warhammer project now lies in the unreleased MMO graveyard, but there is perhaps a silver lining for fans of the genre: Emmert has returned to his old job as CEO of Cryptic Studios, the creator of D&D MMO Neverwinter, Star Trek Online, and Champions Online.

On a call with PC Gamer ahead of the announcement, Emmert said that there's no hard feelings between him and NetEase over the Jackalyptic closure—"strategies change, and I totally get it"—but that he was "down in the dumps" until he got the call asking him to come back to Cryptic as CEO.

"I've been on cloud nine ever since, and it was just meant to be, I think," Emmert said about his homecoming.

Cryptic, which Emmert co-founded 26 years ago and previously led as CEO from 2011 to 2016, has itself only survived the 2020s by the skin of its teeth. In 2021, Cryptic wound up in the hands of Embracer Group, the holding company notorious for aggressively acquiring dozens of game studios and then doing its best impression of a malfunctioning cartoon contraption with bolts and springs shooting out of its innards.

In 2023 and 2024, a troubled Embracer substantially cut back Cryptic's staff and put primary responsibility for its MMOs in the hands of mobile-focused studio DECA Games. Last year, however, Cryptic split from Embracer in a management buyout alongside Arc Games, formerly Gearbox Publishing San Francisco (which itself was formerly Perfect World Entertainment, if you're keeping track).

Under Arc, Cryptic is running its games again, and consists of a mix of legacy staff and DECA Games staff who came over in the buyout. Emmert hopes to bring back some number of former Cryptic employees, as well.

"Cryptic has reassumed responsibility for its games, including Star Trek Online, Neverwinter and Champions Online," Emmert told PC Gamer in a follow-up correspondence after our call. "The DECA Games team members who were previously working on all titles are now part of Cryptic, and I'm excited to be working with them as over the years, they've been able to do a good job with each title. During the time when the games were under DECA, multiple Cryptic veterans were still working on the games and still do, which is great. So, for me, the team is a

Source: PC Gamer