Cryptic CEO John Needham realizes what a juggernaut World of Warcraft is. Instead of trying to sell Champions Online as a replacement for WoW, his argument to gamers is, "Hey, you can play both."

“We’re doing different kinds of games to standard fantasy fare," Needham told Champions Online Daily News. "So Champions Online is a superhero game, and it’s a lot different to a World of Warcraft or Everquest because you don’t need to invest twenty to thirty hours a week in Champions to really succeed in the game."

While no doubt Champions will have its share of hardcore players, it's going to be friendly to "lolcasuals" as well. "Accessibility is something we talk about all the time. We want Championsto be as simple to get into as possible for anyone. People love superheroes, so we want to make a game for them, regardless of their experience with MMOs. This game is easy for them to get into and have a lot of fun playing.”

Champions Online will be released on September 1st for the PC. Console versions are also planned.