Oct. 19, 2005--NCsoft® North America announces that City of Villains(TM) has reached gold master status and will appear on retailers' shelves in North America at the end of the month. NCsoft also confirmed that customers who purchased and registered their City of Villains pre-order boxes will receive a two-day head start for game play.

City of Villains, a stand-alone sequel to last year's hit, City of Heroes®, is expected to be released on Oct. 31, with a subscription price of $14.99 per month. The two-day head start will begin after 12 a.m. EST on Oct. 29. Purchasers of the City of Villains pre-order box, which is currently available at retailers across North America, have been invited into the City of Villains beta test and may participate in the head-start.

Existing City of Heroes' customers can purchase City of Villains and subscribe to both games for the single subscription price of $14.99. Both games were developed by Cryptic Studios(TM).

"City of Heroes was a big hit for NCsoft last year and our retail partners anticipate City of Villains to be one of the top PC games of the holiday season," said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. "I also know that our customers are happy about our single subscription rate for both games, which makes it a tremendous value as well."

In City of Villains, players will be able to take on villainous personas, customizing villain costumes and building bases for their super-powered groups. Additionally, the game has a variety of graphical and technological improvements and provides players a huge set of criminal missions and events within the Rogue Isles(TM). City of Villains will also include the ability to fight against player controlled heroes and villains within special designated zones.

City of Villains will hit retail shelves with an anticipated price of $49.99 for its standard edition and $79.99 for the feature-packed collector's DVD edition.