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Posted By Shaun K. about 9 months, 2 weeks ago
Sadly, it is time to start saying goodbye.
The end of an era is officially in the offing as word has come down today that the first Superhero MMO, City of Heroes, well be shutting down for good by the end of this year. Additionally, the developer responsible for the game, Paragon Studios, will also be closing its doors as part of this larger closure. The news broke today via an official post on the main City of Heroes website by Paragon Studios Community Manager Andy Belford. In the post, Belford stated that all current development on the game had been ceased in order for Paragon to prepare to bring CoH to a proper close by the end of this year. He also stated that all recurring subscription billing and Paragon Market purchasing was being discontinued as today as well. While an exact closure date has yet to be revealed, Belford promised that a full timeline for the game’s pending shut-down of service would be in coming in the course of the next few weeks. The full text of Belford’s post follows:
This morning we announced that Paragon Studios will be taking to the skies of City of Heroes for the last time.
In a realignment of company focus and publishing support, NCsoft has made the decision to close Paragon Studios. Effective immediately, all development on City of Heroes will cease and we will begin preparations to sunset the world’s first, and best, Super Hero MMORPG before the end of the year. As part of this, all recurring subscription billing and Paragon Market purchasing will be discontinued effective immediately. We will have more information regarding a detailed timeline for the cessation of services and what you can expect in game in the coming weeks.
The team here at Paragon deserves special praise for all that we have accomplished over the last 5+ years. These developers are some of the most creative and talented people in the gaming industry. By now, we’ve all been given this news internally, but to anyone who may be reading this message after the fact; know that your hard work and dedication has not gone unappreciated or unnoticed. To any potential studios looking to grow your team; hire these people. You won’t regret it.
To our Community,
Thank you. Thank you for your years of support. You’ve been with us every step of the way, sharing in our challenges, encouraging us to make City of Heroes better, more than everyone else thought it could be. We couldn’t have come this far without you. I implore you all, focus on the good things of CoH and Paragon Studios. Don’t dwell on the “how” or the “why”, but rather join us in celebrating the legacy of an amazing partnership between the players and the development team.
Thank you, and I’ll see you in the skies, one last time.
UPDATE
Publisher NCsoft has released an official statement regarding the closure of City of Heroes via IGN. In the statement, the publisher stated their intention to officially bring the game to an on November 30 of this year. The full text of this statement follows:
We will begin the City of Heroes sun setting process immediately with the goal to officially stop our service offerings for the franchise on November 30, 2012.
This was a very tough decision to make and wish the best for all Paragon Studio employees in their next ventures.
First launched in April of 2004, City of Heroes has remained a title with a dedicated, if ever shrinking, fanbase during the years that followed. At one point so popular it was able to sustain a sister MMO City of Villains as a standalone expansion, the game eventually saw its user-base begin to fade significantly as newer MMOs arrived on the market. The game had seemed to find a second life via the switch-over to the free-to-play model however, a fact which only makes this seemingly sudden closure announcement all the more shocking. From its modern day setting featuring a wide mixture of genres at a time when few (if any) MMOs stepped outside of the strict boundaries of either the sci-fi or fantasy genre to the introduction of user-generated missions and other content, City of Heroes has been a groundbreaking game throughout the entirety of its run. Its sad to see the game will be going away soon and the sub-genre as a whole will be poorer for it to say nothing of the group of talented people soon to be without jobs. Stay tuned to Blistered Thumbs for continuing coverage of this story as it devlops and be sure to share your thoughts and CoH memories in the comments section below.
Source(s): Paragon Studios., IGN.
Man I’m from second life just read what’s happened to you guys,it the saddest thing I’ve heard in gaming in years I shudder the thought that it could happen to us it’s not just the money ($40,000 aus)
It’s all the friends and partners torn from each other
This sort of thing should not be allowed to happen by law ,they should of given all the players the option to buy in and have like a body corporate style system to run it
I know you guys are more than welcome to migrate over to here let us know when you come in world that your from “City of Heroes” we will make a home for you
Android Huckleberry :- second life citizen
This just has “Bad Decision” written all over it. I can only pray someone else buys up the City of Heroes IP and creates a proper “City of Heroes II” game.
I have always said this, but City of Heroes is the best MMORPG on the net. The most customization, the best team system, and overall, the most fun game out there.
I am definitely sad to see them go. Champions Online is a good MMO, but its still one with issues in the end. And I don’t know of any others that can hold a candle to either of them in that way.
My sympathies to the CoH community. It was the one superhero MMO I never tried, but it has my respect for opening the doors for the others I’ve enjoyed. Hopefully the spark of your community will phoenix with a new property in the future.