Am 30.11.2012 ging nach knapp 8 Jahren das Superhelden-MMORPG City of Heroes offline. Einige Fans wollten das nicht akzeptieren und haben Missing Worlds Media gegründet, mit dem Ziel einen inoffiziellen Nachfolger unter dem Titel City of Titans zu veröffentlichen. Über 100 Fans haben an diesem Projekt (Arbeitstitel The Phoenix Project) freiwillig mitgearbeitet, um die weitere Entwciklung zu finanzieren, werden nunmehr USD 320.000 benötigt, die über die Crowdfunding-Plattform Kickstarter.com akquiriert werden sollen:

The Phoenix Project is the effort to bring new life from a world laid waste, the name given to an idea that would not be silenced, an idea whose time has come. The idea that a game is more than just a game or a revenue stream. It is a community, a home. Missing Worlds Media, Inc. was the first element of this idea, founded by the project to provide the foundation, the structure for that effort.

Missing Worlds Media presents City of Titans, the superhero MMORPG being developed by The Phoenix Project in the spirit of City of Heroes. Our goal is to deliver a unique massively multiplayer online roleplaying game, created from the community of a lost universe, to build a new community for a new world. A brave new world containing a wealth of player choices, from costumes to powers, it continues the traditions found in its spiritual predecessor, daring to reach for new innovations no other game will touch, while standing firmly on the feel and spirit of the old. Players will be able to choose their own adventure, tell their own tales, and have their own agency in a superhuman world.

City of Titans is set in a world where there is always hope, even in the darkest of times. The tradition of brightly colored costumes, brilliant heroics, and daring struggles to stand against the shadows cast during times of darkness and corruption. New heroes, your heroes, rise to make their mark on the world while their villainous counterparts lurk in the corners of alleys, behind governments, and even in the boardrooms of the wealthiest corporations. Humanity honors the fallen, and takes inspiration from the selfless sacrifices of heroes who have gone before.

It is an age where heroic ideals stand tall, where words such as "truth," "justice," "freedom," and "honor" have never lost their meaning. And it is an age where a villain may rise to power despite the heroes, where epic clashes of good vs evil are as common as seeing a brilliant costume fly through the sky on the way to save a kitten stuck in a tree. The world stands on the brink of change, at a time when magic, high technology and incredible scientific feats bring out the best and worst in the everyday human being. Individuals with supreme strength of will and training can become forces of good or evil. Heroes with astounding powers patrol the streets and skies alongside those whose only special abilities are the dedication in their hearts. Villains scheme and plot with the help of scoundrels and rogues, caring only for power, wealth or control - their motives are their own and dynamic battles between the two sides are frequent.

One city has risen above the rest as a place where costumed heroes are welcomed, where devious villains seek to add to their roster of minions. In Titan City, the opening setting, an old guard stands watch on both sides. They have issued calls to action, welcoming new heroes to their ranks and inviting old heroes to return to duty. New villains mask themselves amongst the rich and famous along with the poor and destitute, while experienced evil-doers lure the unsuspecting with words of clever cynicism.

Do you have what it takes to join the ranks of good? Or will you choose to stand in the shadowed courts of villainy?

Bring the City of Titans to life.

They said there was no chance. They said we should find a new home. We have. We just made it ourselves. Because we dare to think the impossible.

We are heroes. This is what we do.

Das Budget soll vor allem für die Lizenzierung von Software verwendet werden. Die laufenden Kosten von City of Titans sollen wahlweise über eine Premium-Mitgliedschaft oder als Free2Play-System mit Unterstützung durch einen Item-Shop gedeckt werden.

Basierend auf der Unreal-Engine sollen die Stärken von City of Heroes wie die freie Charakterentwicklung verbunden werden mit einer Mischung aus Open-World-Abschnitten (Titan City) sowie instanzierten Arealen.

Quelle: City of Titans @ Kickstarter