City of Heroes and developer shutting down

City of Heroes developer Paragon Studios is being closed by NCsoft, and its superhero massively multiplayer online role-playing game is set to go offline by November 30. The studio's roughly 80 employees have been laid off, and the game, originally released in 2004 by Cryptic Studios with development assumed by Paragon (then NCsoft NorCal) in 2007, will begin to sunset immediately.

"Both NCsoft and Paragon Studios are incredibly proud of the success of City of Heroes, but unfortunately, the continued support of the franchise no longer fits within our long term goals for the company," said Lincoln Davis, NCsoft West director of corporate communications. "All employees at Paragon Studios are affected by this decision, including the management team."

Paragon Studios community manager Andy Belford announced in a blog post that City of Heroes' cash shop and subscription billing options will cease immediately. He praised both the developers and the community that enjoyed their efforts. "To any potential studios looking to grow your team; hire these people," Belford said. "You won't regret it."