Champions Online will be getting some additional polish prior to release as developer Cryptic Studios has officially announced that the title has been delayed. The game will be published by studio owner Atari and is still in development and will arrive for the PC and Xbox 360 sometime between July 14th and September 1st, according to our sources. Whispers we hear are that it is more likely that it will arrive in mid-to-late August.

The Champions Online is a subscription-based MMO title that is created by the same team that developed City of Heroes/Villains. Sources tell us that the beta testing community has had much input into the development of the title and Cryptic feels that it is necessary to implement features and correct issues that this beta testing has brought to light before the official release of the game.

It is good that Cryptic is taking their time to get it right. The news can’t be good for Atari, who recently cited Champions Online as one of the titles it would be focusing on, along with Ghostbusters. It seems now that as Champions Online is a bit far from release that could be at least part of the reason that Atari pulled out of E3 at the last minute.