Welcome to your night cap. If you pay attention to MMO news, odds are you already know that City of Heroes will be shutting down this November 30th. That is, of course, assuming NCSoft completely dismisses the overwhelming support given by the community and Paragon Studios to keep the game running. But for all intent and purpose, let’s assume the train is already halfway over the bridge, and the bridge is out. There is no turning back, the game is over. For the sake of this conversation.
NCSoft is growing its collection of disenfranchised customers. Auto Assault was shut down rather than humoring potential buyers, Dungeon Runners had a small but loyal community who also shot back at NCSoft when the MMO shut down. And I don’t think I have to point out the vile, and rather justified, hatred over the closure of Tabula Rasa and the fraudulent firing of Richard Garriot which left a $28 million hole in NCSoft’s pocket and a big dent in their revenue.
So assuming that talks break down and NCSoft refuses to change their minds, the end result can only be even more angry ex-customers. And where does NCSoft win in this equation? If City of Heroes was not drawing a profit, well the answer is obvious. But if the game was performing well as the players and Paragon Studios would like us to believe, then the benefits for NCSoft are rather foggy. Rather than making whatever profit was to be had from City of Heroes, apparently NCSoft would rather take no income at all. Then again, as NCSoft’s markets shift back over to Korea, and the Western hemisphere has shown little signs of interest in their import MMOs (Lineage, Aion), perhaps NCSoft doesn’t put much merit into what the North American and European markets think.
I have very little doubt that someone will open up a private server, so odds are people will still be enjoying City of Heroes, whether or not NCSoft sees a dime from it. Of course, MMO Fallout does not endorse the legally grey are of the internet that is the private server.
Good night.
MMO Fallout 