City of Heroes is a superhero MMORPG created by Cryptic Studios, published by NCSoft and later run by Paragon Studios. It launched in North America on April 28, 2004 in the fictional Paragon City; City of Villains later added a villain side.
You built a hero from an origin, an archetype such as Tanker or Blaster, and two power sets, and the costume editor was a draw in itself. Missions were instanced, sidekicking let friends of different levels team up, and updates added crafting, an auction house, supergroup bases and player-written story arcs.
The official servers went dark on November 30, 2012, after NCSoft shut Paragon Studios down, citing a change of focus. Server code leaked in 2019 and the game lives on through fan-run servers, one of which NCSoft licensed in 2024. Expect mid-2000s visuals.
