City of Heroes might be the superhero MMO the world deserves, but it’s not the one it needs right now – owner NCsoft has announced it’s shutting down both the game and the developer, Paragon Studios.

In an official statement on the City of Heroes blog, NCSoft community manager Andy Belford dropped the bomb:

In a realignment of company focus and publishing support, NCsoft has made the decision to close Paragon Studios. Effective immediately, all development on City of Heroes will cease and we will begin preparations to sunset the world’s first, and best, Super Hero MMORPG before the end of the year.

All development on the game has effectively stopped, and around 80 employees are now looking for new jobs.

Originally developed by Cryptic Studios, City of Heroes launched in 2004 and was later bought out by NCsoft, which formed a new subsidiary, Paragon Studios, to support the game. The game transitioned to a free-to-play model last year, but evidently it hasn’t worked out.

Source: CVG

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