City of Heroes shutting down by end of the year

ThelegendaryMMO City of Heroes will be shutting down later this year, NCSoft announced today. And if that weren't sad enough news, the game's developer Paragon Studios will be disbanded as well.

At this time it's unclear whether that means the studio's employees have been laid off, or if they've been relocated into other teams.

City of Heroes launched way back in 2004 in an MMO landscape that was incredibly different than it is today. The game is inarguably out of date, but the developer has continued to support the game with new content such as City of Heroes: Freedom and City of Villains.

The game has managed to maintain a longstanding fan base thanks to constant updates, a unique focus, and (still today) the most robust character creator ever implemented into an MMO.

They are reportedly commencing the shut-down process immediately, and are aiming to shut down the game entirely on November 30.

We'll miss ya City of Heroes.