Okay stay calm. It's happening!

This is all due to the fan base, as well as the numerous skilled programmers involved, who absolutely REFUSED to give up, give in and let a franchise that STILL exceeds anything currently available to date perish. We held the torch, we maintained our vigil and stood our ground against the seemingly insurmountable task of keeping Paragon City alive. We are heroes (and villains) - this is what we do. For Stan Lee, for Superhero lovers all over - EXCELSIOR! Thank you, NCSoft!

I'm glad it's back. Only found out the other day but instantly jumped back in when I found it was pretty much an official version of the game

I played from Day 1 until the shutdown. This is great news for fans of the game. It probably had the best community i've ever been a part of.

I'm sorry. I'm still bitter with NCSoft. Over ten years ago, in 2013, I had a huge supergroup, complete with a well stocked base and extra facilities, several level 50+ characters, and many friends that still loved to play City of Heroes / Villains. NCSoft took away all that and didn't care. They refused to negotiate or accomodate with anyone to preserve the game. They shut it down and said "Tough luck, sucks to be you." Finally, someone backwards engineered the game and brought it back to life, a few years ago and NOW NCSoft wants to grant an office license?! WTF?! Seriously. They bring the allure of possible future development and game expansion, but at what price? NCSoft can shut it down AGAIN! You make a deal with the devil and you'll probably get burned. About three or four years ago, I started playing Homecoming and found it delightfully nostalgic and I felt myself wistful for the olden days. Any business with NCSoft still burns me up. I'm glad people are enjoying the game and it's back in my life in some form, but it isn't the same. I don't think I'm ready to trust NCSoft or even be charitable towards them. I guess time will tell. Until then, I'll see you all on the streets of Paragon. Have fun and good luck!

What you're talking about in terms of future development - new costumes and costume pieces and options, new content, new Archetypes, new tweaks to play balance. All of that has already been happening and will continue. This just gives official sanction to it all. Which is excellent. There are a few people out there who have the skill sets to help develop these things that would not want to work on a "pirate" server. Well now they can do so openly. This can only help. As for whether NC Soft can shut it down and whether or not the source code has been scrubbed. I have to laugh. See - it might be OFFICIALLY scrubbed. And Homecoming could - in theory - be shutdown. But it's highly unlikely. Trust me - I have contacts with people in that "secret server" group that was allowed to play the game in private for 6 years while they were hiding. That "secret server" still exists. It's an "open secret" but they have contingencies in place to go back fully underground and keep playing and keep City of Heroes alive if NC Soft ever told Homecoming to shut down. They think it's unlikely they'll need to at this point. But the plans could be dusted off at a moments notice and they could lock down and move out of harms way in less than a week with everything they've built kept intact. As for that server source code - it has already been seeded to so many private servers and is already out in the wild in so many data bolt-holes that getting rid of it would be a cost prohibitive measure and these days would be nigh impossible. And it is a big reason WHY NCSoft is "playing nice". They do NOT want to play "whack-a-mole" with City of Heroes private servers and source code bolt-holes forever - and lose and look foolish in the end. This entire deal is as much face-saving for them as it is an opportunity for us. City of Heroes is impossible to kill. Like any good superhero - we ALWAYS come back.

Homecoming has always been upfront about their negotiations, and it's taken them four years. A lot of people called them liars and accused them of trying to gaslight the other servers to somehow gain dominance, but this shows they have always been honest about it. The actual terms of the agreement are going to be NDA, but looking at the public announcement from a player point of view not much will change. I don't know what the other servers will do, but I doubt if NCSoft are really interested in going after them unless they do something really egregious and cause bad publicity for NCSoft. I'd say they could get their own agreement, but the HC one is probably bespoke and HC specific. It'll probably take them a long time to get recognition if NCSoft is even interested in doing it again. HC has good relations with some servers, not so good with others. I doubt if any of the other servers want to move under the HC umbrella, and I doubt if HC really wants it either. Other servers do good things and having different options is always welcome.

City of Heroes was my first MMO I ever played. And it's still my favorite. It's nice to see some hope to the future of the game

I'm really excited to hear this. I'm someone who is new to the City of Heroes gaming community and as soon as I played the game 2 years ago, I fell in love with it! Now that NCSoft is making it official, I wonder if this could mean the game could get even bigger and maybe even an graphics engine update? Man i am so excited!

YES!!! YES!! Does a happy dance!!

Just discovered this game a few days ago, funny enough from another game that's been closed down for years, SWG, on their emulator. lol I knew about CoH back then, but it had already closed down, so off to DCO I went. Two ways of looking at this license, one, it's a huge red flag and what could happen. Last I checked, there's well over 2k across five servers in player population, at $15 a pop, that's a decent chunk of change per month. Keep in mind, NCSoft still has their hands involved with GW2, still one of the biggest MMO's out there. On the flip side. Old School Runescape has proven that the older games can work and the developers are willing to work with their players. Here's hoping nothing happens, only time will tell. Good video.

❤❤❤❤ily

It's about time!

Great to hear. My kids and I are all on HC.

Loved this game went back and played last year for about a month and had a blast. I would play this in a heart beat revamped.

This is amazing news and everyone should celebrate NCSoft for doing this. They have no reason to do it but to offer something to fans. If they do this right and fans show their support this will show other studios that closed MMO's might be worth giving to fans... Matrix, Star Wars Galaxy, etc..

I got this game for my birthday when I was a kid, and I don't remember being able to play it. I do not know if my computer couldn't handle it, or if it was a subscription and I could pay? But I really wanted to. So now I might.

that's so awesome! Wish more devs would support community efforts like this

In2024 this game is still is at the top of my list...Awesome news thx bro..

Wow, this is pretty unusual but encouraging move. I think moving away from tab-targeting is pretty difficult task since tab-targeting makes netcode quite a bit easier.. and netcode is very tricky to get right... then there are probably a million other things it'd affect. But I hope homecoming will prosper and continue to develop and grow.

Great News!! Happy New Year Heroes And Villains!!

Awesome. I was in CoH Beta. Still have the install CD.

I saw this news earlier. I tried the Homecoming server, I think last year, I might even still have it installed. It will be good to try it again in a few months and if they can do anything to update it. I personally don't have an issue with tab targeting, I still play several games that use it such as SWTOR which I am playing now but that is also an old game which is 12 yrs old.

Honestly not sure if this is good or bad. From what I understand, NCSoft still can take action against other servers, and Homecoming is being put on a leash. It "might" be good if NCSoft lets Homecoming continue freely... but it might be a way to restrict them, or even take credit for other people's efforts. Time will tell. I'd rather they just sell the IP and let someone remake it with the Unreal Engine or something. A modern take on COH would be amazing.

Hon, Where's My Super Suit!!! Make It So!!!

Next, I'd like to see this happen for Wildstar.

Tab targeting should at least be kept as an option to be turned on. It's one of the main reasons I don't even own a console. PC only.

On one hand this sounds amazing, just like Project 1999 Everquest. On the other hand i worry NCSoft is going to be C&Ding other servers.

Omg it's a dream come true

Wow - this is amazing news - Gratz Everyone!

This is awesome! Great news

Love u fam!!

Yes, this is extremely important and a meaningful feat not only for CoH, but for all prematurely sunset mmorpgs (like Star Wars Galaxies and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes). So in short: Well done @Homecoming and NCSoft! This is a win for oldschool gamers alike, and I absolutely support the idea of having at least one single official home server for these old(er) mmo games. Liked and subbed for the straight forward and super chill vid!

Time to find whats left of thw old SG 😅

I... Do share a lot of your hopes for the future, but I think asking for an action combat update is a bit beyond our reach even if the Homecoming team was funded by NATO and had every developer in the industry backing them.

Lot of fantastic points in this vid and the comments. This whole situation has many facets and does have a hefty portion residing in a very grey area. It is a move in the right direction though for sure, 2024 couldve been off to a worse start. Happy to be playing this after a lengthy sabbatical.

What's the effective difference here? They've been running and developing for years now.

As for development of the combat - you say that "tab targeting" isn't really part of "todays game types". Well - that's one of the SELLING POINTS of City of Hereos! Many of us love the game EXACTLY for the old-school gameplay! Many City players are no longer in our prime and do not have the "twitch reflexes" needed to be competitive in some more modern games. Heck - DC Universe Online requires an elevated method of play that's akin to a fighting game to be fully mastered and it's considered "old school" itself! Furthermore - City of Heroes is a favorite game of people with DISABILITIES. There are people with missing limbs and/or nerve damage of various types that can still enjoy City of Heroes and feel useful on a team despite their disability precisely because City of Heroes is "old school". In City of Heroes - it's far more about building the right powers ahead of time, and in combat - planning and thinking ahead a couple of seconds, positioning, and firing off the correct powers. The skill requirements are low enough that ANYONE can play - from 8 years to 80 years - and trust me - we do indeed have a few people pushing 80 that are still enjoying this game. I myself am in my late 50s and while I've still got SOME "twitch reflexes" left - enough to play flight sims and the like - it's nice to have a game to play that doesn't demand that I have incredible skill at the level of a fighting game to play. I loved playing Street Fighter and the like back in the day. I'm still a fan of those games. But in no way could I hope to compete at a high level on them. But City of Heroes is TIMELESS. That's why it's so popular!

Speaking personally, I wouldn't ever want to see action combat in City of Heroes, I like the combat the way it is. There's plenty of other more modern action combat MMOs out there that are actually built for it and the spaghetti code of this game is already essentially held together by bits of string and positive thought as it is.

Chaos United is a SG on the everlasting server on Homecoming and we are very happy to hear the news and thankful to see this happen and yes I am the founder of Chaos United I am Sargus

Wow amazing news.

Ooofh. I came back to CoH (Homecoming) because of the tab targeting. Personally I hope they don't go action/lock targeting.

We are close to the 20th anniversary of the game's official launch. Is that a coincidence?

Is there a website I can go to get the game and I'm so happy game is coming back it feels like I get to relive my glory days and with new content I'm super excited it might be a longshot but I hope they bring this on consoles and another longshot but I hope somebody brings back marvel heroes like it gets liscene too and it comes back to consoles and maybe add more content too it could be a marvel game we could play just to pass the time while we wait on other marvel games and we have another marvel game to play form of entertainment we can also play

I wanted someone to be the successor to Paragon Studios to continue there mission under a new dev team. I can't see anyone else taking the mantle where Paragon Studio left off.

Their competition DCUO is still heavy in the market

Wow, anyone know what comes after an official license like this?

Wow amazing that means City of Heroes homecoming can get more updates and enhancing graphics Edit I am also glad Ncsoft decided to get off they lazy ass now

this is the greatest thing possible and the year just started

Nice. So more raid content?

For starters, new game and graphics engine. Stretchy powers, grappling hook traveling, customizable mounts....

i own city of villians on cd and never played it unfortuantley...

Now how do I download and play?

Do you have any proof from NCsoft aside from Homecoming saying they do?

Please keep your action combat mechanics out of my 20 year old MMO. This is a game from the past, tab targeting is what fits.

I hope this comes to console

I'm kinda happy for this but the timing... They're doing this when the world has like Superhero Fatigue from Marvel and DC?

Will Mac OS X users still be able to play if some of the unofficial launchers are potentially going away?

You look like a young will smith which is funny because not even jaden did or does

"Tab targeting is too old i want action combat" Then play a different game. I enjoy the tab targeting

Now if we can only get Marvel Heroes back !

Hi will this game ever come to Xbox and PlayStation 5?

lolol whhyyy do you have to keep saying it's 20 years old... it's a painful reminder rofl

2:59 bud, Tab targetting still exists and thriving. As much as people can enjoy more action base combat. The whole "Hit a Button" and watch it do something is relaxing and able to slightly turn your brain off. Just play a game. Do not need to bounce around and juggle 20 billion things and one misstep. You fail hard and have to start over. The combat system is fine. You may not like it. You can have that opinion. But, the last game that is well over 20 years old tried to do a new combat system. That was RuneScape. And you know what happened? The community revolted. I mean, outright revolted hard. They took a step back. All with Classic Runescape and Runescape 2, with the new combat system. Changing the formula that makes a product work, is never the best course of action. It is like Coke-Cola changing its formula and making New Coke-Cola or Coke-Cola II. I am dating myself, but that choice cost Coke-Cola billions. And I could go on wity examples. Maybe slight improvements would never hurt. But outright ripping out and changing a system that is working. It is a receipt for disaster. One more example I promise: Be like you changing your whole channel from gaming to beauty product and fashion. Do not think it would go over well. Still, you have your opinion. You are allowed to have it. You have a nice day.

i downloaded and played this game...... i figured why not, i loved City of Villains from years ago. it looks and plays like a 20 year old game! the nostalgia lasted an entire 20 minutes. even at the price free, it still cost too much!

This is terrible news, not sure why everyone is celebrating this. All this did was put other private servers in danger. It's like everyone here is applauding being put on a leash.