"I'm incredibly excited about City of Heroes," said Rick Dakan, writer of the comic book series. "I was one of the original designers on City of Heroes and have worked for more than four years creating the background, setting and characters featured in the game. This comic book is a terrific opportunity for me to bring that world to life in a different medium - adding yet another level of richness and depth to the City of Heroes experience."

City of Heroes is the first massively multiplayer online game featuring a modern, comic book-inspired setting. The game takes place in a virtual world where players create their own super-powered heroes and fight crime in the sprawling, villain-filled metropolis of Paragon City.

Michael Lewis, CEO of Cryptic Studios commented, "The City of Heroes comic is something totally unprecedented in both computer gaming and comic book publishing. Events in the game world and the game's storyline will be reflected in the comic book, while characters from the pages of City of Heroes will make appearances in the online game. The comic book really is part of the game."

Everyone who plays City of Heroes online automatically receives a free subscription to the comic book. Every issue features a 22-page story detailing the adventures of three young heroes-War Witch, Apex, and Horus. In addition, each issue includes an eight-page City of Heroes online supplemental section, featuring special bonus material for and about the game's players.

NCsoft North America Vice President of Marketing Fred Schmidt said, "With software package sales of City of Heroes projected to soar well into six-digits by fall and with every subscriber to the game automatically being eligible to receive a copy, the City of Heroes comic may reach record levels of distribution. Add sales from comic book stores and the City Of Heroes comic book edition is quickly expected to become one of the top-circulation comic books of any kind in the country by year end."

Dakan added, "The hope, of course, is that those who enjoy the comic will also enjoy the game, and vice versa. However, our first priority is putting out a top-notch comic book every month. Even if you've never seen a computer in your life, you'll still enjoy City of Heroes. As avid comic book readers, we wanted to create an exciting and different take on the traditional comic book hero tale-and something anyone can enjoy."

The City of Heroes comic features art by Brandon McKinney (Switchblade Honey, Planet of the Capes ) and colors by Moose Bauman (Action Comics, Green Lantern).

The premiere issue of the City of Heroes comic ships in May. In addition to the issues received by the game's players, the comic book will also be available in comic book stores across the country. Starting in March 2004 it will be available to comic book retailers through Diamond Comic Book Distributors, the country's largest comic distributor. Blue King Studios also announced plans to collect every six issues of the comic into trade paperback books for sale in comic book stores and other retail outlets.

More information on the City of Heroes game can be found at http://www.cityofheroes.com.

About NCsoft Corporation
Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, NCsoft Corp. is the world's leading developer and publisher of online games. Founded in 1997, NCsoft is home to Lineage™, the world's most successful online role playing game. NCsoft has joint venture offices located in Japan, Taiwan, and China. In fiscal year 2002, NCsoft posted revenues of KRW154.8 billion or approximately US$123.3 million. More information about NCsoft can be found at http://www.ncsoft.net.

About NCsoft - North America

NCsoft - North America (NC-NA) is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is part of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NC-NA, with development and administrative offices in Texas and California, is preparing to launch two ground-breaking titles in the first half of 2004. The company also works with NCsoft subsidiary ArenaNet™(located in Seattle, WA ) and third party developers throughout North America to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. More information about NCsoft - North America can be found at http://www.PlayNC.com.

About Blue King Studios

Founded in 2003 by City of Heroes designer Rick Dakan, Blue King Studios is a new publishing company dedicated to bringing a wide variety of quality and innovative new comic books to market. City of Heroes is its first major product and will be followed later in 2004 by additional titles that include a full-text comic adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth and a political/horror story call State of Fear. More information is available at http://www.bluekingstudios.com.

About Cryptic Studios

Cryptic Studios, Inc., located in San Jose, California, was established in July of 2000 and is an independent developer of massively multiplayer online games for the PC and next generation consoles. Its first game, City of Heroes, is currently in development and will launch a virtual world where thousands of people play simultaneously, take on the role of super-powered heroes, fight villains and help create a dynamic story in a visually-stunning, 3-D graphical world.

NCsoft is a trademark of NCsoft Corp and Lineage is a trademark of NC Interactive. Cryptic Studios and City of Heroes are trademarks of Cryptic Studios, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.