City of Heroes, a massively-multiplayer online game published by NCsoft ® and developed by Cryptic Studios®, beat out other well-established PC and console games Prince of Persia, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Pandora to win the “PC or Console Game of the Year” honor. City of Heroes was also named “Multiplayer Game of the Year” over Socom II: Navy Seals, Splinter Cell and Unreal Tournament 2004.

The Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards honored 30 companies and their products across the entertainment spectrum including games, music, film, television and video. According to Billboard, the awards recognize “cutting-edge developments and forward thinkers shaping the future of entertainment” as well as “innovation, entrepreneurship and brand development in digital entertainment.”

“This recognition for our first title in front of the elites in the entertainment industry is a tremendous honor and is a testament to the hard work that went into developing City of Heroes,” said Jack Emmert, City of Heroes’ lead designer and creative director at Cryptic Studios. “This is a very pleasant surprise, considering we are the new kid-on-the-block going up against other well-established games and big-name companies.”

City of Heroes, which allows players to create a super-powered hero and battle villains in the online world of Paragon City™, was released in April as one of NCsoft’s initial entries into the North American market. The game attained 180,000 subscribers after only four months, has won critical acclaim throughout North America and is now expected to be released in Europe in the coming months.

Also, a City of Heroes Collectors DVD Edition, which will include enhancements to the game, a limited edition Statesman™ HeroClix™ figure and other exclusive collectibles, will be available to would-be super-powered heroes this week in most retail outlets throughout the United States and Canada at a suggested retail price of US$49.99, which includes the first month of online game play. After the first month, players will be charged a monthly subscription fee of US$14.95. Sixty-day game time cards are also available at many North American retailers for an estimated street price of US$29.99. The game is rated Teen by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

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

For more information about the 2004 Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards, visit http://www.digitalentertainmentawards.com/index.html

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, launched two ground-breaking titles in the first half of 2004, Lineage II and City of Heroes. The company also works with NCsoft subsidiaries 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 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, launched in April 2004. The game takes place in 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, the interlocking NC logo and all associated NCsoft logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. City of Heroes is a trademark of Cryptic Studios, Inc. and NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

©2004 WizKids, Inc. All rights reserved. HeroClix and WizKids are trademarks of WizKids, Inc.