<b><big>Gameplay</big></b>
The game will be action-oriented, and one can use a gamepad to perform actions. Attacks will be mapped to the four buttons, while defensive actions, like block, will be mapped to a shoulder button. Successful attacks and blocks will increase a power meter, which can unlock more powerful actions, which can be accessed by holding the left trigger to reveal a different button map. In addition, the game will be nearly HUD-less.

Death is handled in a similar manner to City of Heroes, in which a player may choose to be revived by a teammate or respawn at a neutral site, except respawning does not accrue experience debt. Instead, the hero's upgrades are degraded. Upgrades are anything (physical enhancements, equipment, relics, etc.) that the hero will receive during the course of his/her career. When equipment hit points reach 0, they cease to function and must be repaired.

The game features an "orb system" in which when the player takes out enemies, they may drop orbs that either benefit or deplete the hero's powers, life, or energy.

The game will also have non-combat skills, such as lockpicking and science knowledge. Also, there are travel powers. The confirmed travel powers are swinging on things such as webs or grappling hooks, flying, fire flying, jetboot flying and jumping, hover disks, super jump, super speed, short-range teleportation, acrobatics (fast running, leaps and flips), ice sliding and tunneling.


<b><big>Characters</b></big>
The game will feature a robust character creation like City of Heroes, including the ability to edit a hero's movement; for instance, a wolf-like hero may opt to leap on all fours rather than on two, a robot may select robotic, jerky movement rather than humanoid, and a mentalist may opt to float inches above the ground rather than walk. The player may also edit the manifestation of their powers, including color and form; for instance, a heat ray may resemble flames or a force field may have a color specified in the editor.

Players will be able to custom design their own arch-nemesis in the same fashion as their own hero (selecting a costume, their powers, their name and history), who will appear throughout their careers. If a player defeats his arch-nemesis permanently, they have the option to create a new one or finish their careers without another arch-nemesis.

One significant difference is the elimination of any character class or archetype system — all characters can take any skill or power equally. The game will also make it easier for a player to spend most of his hero's career as a solo hero if they desire.

The game features a paper-doll inventory system, and items physically appear on the character when equipped; the player may select to remove the item from the visible GUI and still receive the effects from it.

At the character creation screen, players will be able to create their own custom nemesis along with his or her minions. The nemesis will ambush the player throughout the game, and the first meeting is rumored to be at level 25. The level cap is at 40, with special endgame content and gameplay at the cap.

Classic heroes and villains from the Champions universe will serve as major NPCs.


<b><big>Development</b</big>
The game's announcement followed the cancellation of Cryptic's Marvel Universe Online as well as the sale of their Intellectual Properties City of Heroes and City of Villains to distributor NCSoft in November 2007. On February 28, 2008, Cryptic announced they had purchased the entire Champions intellectual property, licensing the rights to publish the 6th edition back to former owner Hero Games. The 6th edition books will synergistically allow players to adapt their Champions Online characters to the pen-and-paper roleplaying game.

On July 10, 2008, 2K Games announced they would be publishing the game. Registration for the closed beta testing period was announced on October 10, 2008.

On December 17, 2008, 2K Games officially dropped the publishing of the game due to the take over of Cryptic by Atari. Atari will now develop and publish the game alongside the Star Trek Online MMO. Release was originally set for July 14.

On May 16, 2009, Cryptic announced that Champions Online would be delayed; the official release date was moved back to September 1. Executive producer and design director Bill Roper cited that the team needed more time to implement important features that the beta test group felt were necessary at launch.

In July, 2009, Cryptic announced that the game would include Micro-Transaction purchases. Most items available for purchase will be vanity items that do not affect gameplay, such as costume pieces. Any items that do affect gameplay will be accessible through the game itself. All items purchased would be available to all characters on the account.


<b><big>Features</big></b>
* The character creation system is bar none the most exhaustive and flexible system to date. With hundreds of unique costume pieces, the ability to alter and re-color each piece, the option to select which powers your hero will use and the ability to change the powers' colors as well, there are limitless customization options in Champions Online
* Champions Online introduces an action-based combat system that redefines MMO combat. With an immediate and intuitive combat system, players spend more time engaging enemies and less time waiting for meters to recharge. The result is exciting and visceral fights while keeping the strategic element inherent to MMO combat intact
* Champions Online will be the first massive multiplayer online action title to allow Xbox 360 and Windows gamers to play online with each other simultaneously
* Varied, Expansive Environments: Rather than taking place in a single city, Champions Online takes place over the entire Earth and beyond. Huge environments such as Millennium City, monster infested islands, creepy underground ruins, even outer space