The fate of City of Heroes: NCsoft Responds to Fans

Last month we reported the sad news concerning NCsoft's decision to shut City of Heroes down. Since then fans have rallied together and shown NCsoft by way of letters, organized events (including the video above), and even a fundraiser that they aren't quite ready for Paragon City to go dark.

Fans have been optimistic, hoping that the overwhelming support from the community would help push NCsoft into figuring out some way for the MMO to survive. Well news has just come from NCsoft and unfortunately it doesn't look good. In the letter the company says the following:

“We wanted to let you know that your voices have been heard and your concerns have been taken into serious consideration. We appreciate the overwhelmingly constructive and positive messages in the emails, notes, and packages you’ve sent in support of the game. It has not been an easy decision for us to close Paragon Studios and prepare to shut down City of Heroes. We’ve exhausted all options including the selling of the studio and the rights to the City of Heroes intellectual property, but in the end, efforts to do so were not successful. City of Heroes has a special place in all of our hearts, and we want to ensure its reputation and the memories we share for the game end on a high note.”

“Once again, we will be holding events throughout the process of preparing for the game’s end, and we encourage players and fans of the franchise to join forces and enjoy their time in a game that we’ve enjoyed supporting for more than eight years.”

Well bummer.

It is interesting to see that NCsoft has actually pursued several options for keeping the MMO and its community alive, including selling the rights to City of Heroes. So it's saddening to see that despite all the seemingly good intentions from both sides that THIS is how it ends, with the MMO still on schedule to be closed for good in November. However I don't think anyone could have asked for a better response and effort from the community and certainly no one is ever going to dispute the dedication fans of the MMO have shown.