GamesMMOCity of Heroes11 years after this cult classic superhero MMO was shut down, the original publisher has given its blessing to the community’s custom serversWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesMMOCity of Heroes11 years after this cult classic superhero MMO was shut down, the original publisher has given its blessing to the community’s custom serversWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: NCSoft)
Despite the shutdown of the beloved superhero MMO City of Heroes over a decade ago, fans have been keeping it alive for years with a variety of custom server efforts. Now, one of those projects has just gotten the blessing of the game’s original publisher and license holder, NCSoft.
City of Heroes: Homecoming made the surprisingannouncementearlier today that “Homecoming has been granted a license to operate a City of Heroes server and further develop the game - subject to conditions and limitations under the contract.” The Homecoming project will remain free and donation-funded, and while there are a few changes to how the project is being managed, it doesn’t look like players will see any meaningful differences in the game itself.
“NCSoft has always had (and will continue to have) the right to demand that Homecoming shuts down,” as the announcement notes. “This agreement provides a framework under which Homecoming can operate the game in a way that complies with NCSoft’s wishes in hopes of minimizing the chances of that happening. We’ve had a really positive and productive relationship with NCSoft for over four years now, so we do not anticipate there being any issues.”
That’ll certainly offer a bit more of a feeling of security to Homecoming players, since most custom MMO servers tend to seem like they’re living on borrowed time, waiting for the day some lawyer or another takes notice and moves to shut them down.
The question mark that currently weighs over the license for Homecoming is what this means for other custom server projects, like City of Heroes Rebirth. Today’s announcement notes that “other servers are out of scope” for this license, and the devs say that “our hope is that our license will help us consolidate our userbase with City of Heroes fans from other servers.” There’s already abit of fear in the communitythat other private servers might start to disappear following this news, but only time will tell what will happen on that front.
For the most part, however, this news is being met with an unequivocally positive response from much of the City of Heroes fandom. Here’s hoping we see similarly happy endings for other online games in the futures.
If you’re looking for more of thebest MMORPGsorbest superhero games, you know where to click.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
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2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2
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3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”