City of Heroes Goes Gold

NCsoft to Roll Out Commercial Service for World’s First Massively-Multiplayer Comic Book Game on April 28:Pre-Order Customers Get Three-Day Head Start

Austin, TEXAS, April 12, 2004—NCsoft® Corporation (KSE: 036570.KS), the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, announces that City of Heroes™ has reached gold master status in North America and will soon be on its way to retailers in the United States and Canada. The company also announces that all customers who purchase the City of Heroes pre-order box and register their account will have a three-day head start in the game over customers who purchase the game on or after the launch date. The official launch date for City of Heroes is April 28.

City of Heroes, developed by Cryptic Studios, is the first game of its kind—a massively-multiplayer online game based on the comic book genre, where players can create their own unique super-powered heroes and defend the citizens of the fictional metropolis, Paragon City, from alien hordes, corrupt corporations, villainous gangs, and street thugs. The game boasts quite possibly the most extensive character creation system ever, allowing players to fully customize a truly distinctive hero or heroine.

The game will be available at a suggested retail price of US$49.99 and includes the first month of online game play. After the first month, players will be charged a monthly subscription fee of US$14.99. Sixty-day game time cards will also be available at many North American retailers at a suggested retail price of US$29.99.

City of Heroes has been in beta test since February and has been heralded as a welcome departure from the fantasy-based massively multiplayer games on the market today. Players will be able to enjoy not only looking good, but developing the skills of their hero through series of missions they get from Contacts. The game can be played solo or in groups. Players can also join Super Groups (similar to guilds in other massively multiplayer online games) and run group operations from their own headquarters.

All customers who have purchased the pre-order box of City of Heroes have been invited into the beta. There is still time to take advantage of the three-day head start—purchase the retail pre-order box and register your account at www.PlayNC.com. More information, including where to obtain a pre-order box, is available on the City of Heroes web site, http://www.cityofheroes.com.