The Superhero Community Fans Are Saving From Death
City of Heroes fans are rejoicing over the fact that their favorite game will continue to be hosted and developed on a new server. The popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) stopped receiving updates from its original publisher (NCSoft) back in 2012. But loyal fans of the property got a hold of the game’s source code in 2019 and created a private City of Heroes: Homecoming server.
Though smaller private servers may eventually get shut down, this is amazing news because City of Heroes will once again have a centralized community instead of one that’s scattered across multiple secret servers.
Since then, smaller City of Heroes servers popped up, but were mostly kept secret for legal reasons. During this time, the Homecoming development team was in talks with NCSoft about the future of the project. On January 4, 2024, NCsoft granted Homecoming an official license to continue hosting the game and its community.
The developers of the project have stated that they don’t have full ownership of City of Heroes, however. In their statement, they revealed that their licensing deal is subject to contractual limitations and conditions, and that NCSoft still owns the intellectual property at the end of the day.
Though smaller private servers may eventually get shut down, this is amazing news because City of Heroes will once again have a centralized community instead of one that’s scattered across multiple secret servers.
As for financial backing for the new City of Heroes server, developers will rely on crowdfunding and fan donations.
A central part of the City of Heroes deal involved creating a single in-house installation and patching solution that the Homecoming team developed. In other words, this one central server will be the prime destination for long-time fans of the game, as well as newcomers who are interested in its lore.
As for financial backing for the new City of Heroes server, developers will rely on crowdfunding and fan donations. What’s more, access and gameplay will remain free for those who cannot afford to throw down their hard-earned dollars. This just goes to show you that if a fan base is loyal enough, reviving a discontinued game is not outside the realm of possibility if all parties involved are willing to cooperate.
Though NCSoft still ultimately has the final word on future developments, it has been confirmed that already existing accounts and servers are safe, and won’t be deleted under the new deal.
But it’s also worth noting that this is an extremely rare occurrence, and things could have shaken out differently. It’s not uncommon for intellectual property owners to file cease-and-desist orders when they find out their game is still running on unofficial servers. NCSoft is the real hero for allowing a third party to revive City of Heroes in such a radical way.
In this case, NCSoft recognized that City of Heroes still had legions of fans, and a devoted crew of developers who were willing to carry the game’s legacy forward. Though NCSoft still ultimately has the final word on future developments, it has been confirmed that already existing accounts and servers are safe, and won’t be deleted under the new deal.
City of Heroes originally launched in 2004. Centering on player-created superhero characters, the gameplay involves completing missions against criminals and various gangs in a team setting. The final official update was released in 2012 when NCSoft ended its relationship with Paragon Studios, the original developers of the MMORPG. Now that City of Heroes: Homecoming is an officially licensed server, it’s safe to say that City of Heroes is here to stay.
