6 Months Ago, Boomtown says (in Champions Online lead designer interview)  UK
While its first game, City of Heroes, has been sold to NCsoft, Cryptic has been working on Champions Online - and has announced a July 14th release date. We recently had the opportunity to interview Randy Mosiondz, the lead designer for Champions ...

7 Months Ago, Kotaku.com says (in Champions Online Heroically Dated)  NY
The game was officially announced just last February, though one assumes that Cryptic's resources and assembled knowledge in creating the City of Heroes franchise for NCsoft aided greatly in the design process.
Cryptic Releases Swinging Champions Online Footage 1UP.com

And 1UP.com says (in Cryptic Releases Swinging Champions Online Footage)  NY - Dustin Quillen
By Dustin Quillen, 04/22/2009 Developer Cryptic Studios hit the whole make-your-own-superhero idea out of the park when they created City of Heroes for NCsoft -- so much so that they ended up getting sued by Marvel for providing gamers with the tools ...