Homecoming (City of Heroes) Overview

Overview

Homecoming is the largest revival of the superhero MMORPG City of Heroes and its City of Villains expansion, originally built by Cryptic Studios and published by NCSoft. The original game shut down in November 2012 despite an active, vocal community. In 2019, a leaked copy of the server code let enthusiasts launch Homecoming, which quickly became the main way to play City of Heroes.

In 2024 the project secured an official NCSoft license, turning it from an unofficial community effort into a legitimate continuation of City of Heroes. Homecoming reproduces the full content of the original game — every archetype, zone, story arc, and system — while adding new features and quality-of-life improvements.

History

City of Heroes launched in April 2004 and was the first major superhero MMORPG. The City of Villains expansion followed in 2005, letting players take the villain side. The game stood out from its rivals with a unique setting, deep character customization, and a strong focus on team play. For eight years it received regular updates and kept a devoted community.

In November 2012, NCSoft decided to shut the game down despite petitions with tens of thousands of signatures. The developer — Paragon Studios (formerly Cryptic Studios) — was dissolved. For six years after the closure, the community had no way to play City of Heroes.

In April 2019, it emerged that the original server code existed in community hands. The Homecoming team rapidly stood up servers and opened access to everyone. Within the first few weeks the population topped 10,000, proving the demand had never faded. Homecoming has run and grown steadily ever since.

The defining moment in the project's history was the licensing agreement with NCSoft in 2024. It gave the project legal security and opened the door to larger-scale development.

Gameplay

City of Heroes gameplay on Homecoming keeps all the original mechanics. You create a superhero (or supervillain) by choosing an archetype, power sets, and a visual look. The character creator is one of the deepest in the genre: hundreds of costume pieces, color schemes, silhouettes, and accessories let you build a truly unique hero.

Archetypes define your role. Common picks include:

Each archetype combines two power sets from a large list, which creates an enormous number of unique builds.

Core PvE content includes instanced dungeon missions, story arcs, Task Forces (multi-hour group runs), and challenge zones. A level-scaling system lets players of different levels run content together. PvP is offered through free-for-all zones and the Arena.

The signature Architect Entertainment system lets players build their own missions in a built-in editor and share them with the community. It generates a near-endless supply of content and is one of the defining features of City of Heroes.

Features

Homecoming's headline feature is the NCSoft licensing agreement that legitimizes the project. That sets Homecoming apart from similar revivals, most of which sit in legal limbo.

The Homecoming team actively develops the game: new power sets, archetypes, zones, and systems ship regularly. Notable additions include an improved Incarnate system (endgame progression), new Task Forces, reworked PvP, and a gear augmentation system. At the same time, the team carefully preserves the spirit of the original and avoids drastic changes.

The complete absence of monetization keeps the playing field level for everyone. Influence (the in-game currency) is earned purely through gameplay, and player trading runs through the Wentworth's / Black Market auction system.

Homecoming runs several servers with different population levels:

You can freely create characters on any server.

Community

The Homecoming community is mature and welcoming, largely because of the age of its audience — many players are veterans who have been with City of Heroes since launch in 2004. Newcomers get active support both in-game and on the forums and Discord.

Beyond combat content, a large share of community activity goes into roleplay, costume design, and custom missions in Architect Entertainment. Costume contests, RP events, and group content runs happen regularly.

The development team keeps an open dialogue with players through the forums, Discord, and regular development updates. Test servers let players try out updates before they hit the live servers.

Links

• Official Homecoming Website
• Community Forum
• Discord Server

See Also

• Return of Reckoning — the Warhammer Online revival
• SWG Legends — the Star Wars Galaxies revival
• Project 1999 — classic EverQuest