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.
