I was remiss to let one key quote not come up in Episode 15′s discussion on City of Heroes/Villains’ sale to NCSoft. Warcry.com had an interview with Brian Clayton, the new Studio Manager at NCSoft NorCal and Executive Producer of City of Heroes.

Clayton told us that the current subscriber levels of the game support that kind of reinvestment and the new studio, once it gets going, will be totally focused on the City of Heroes IP. While CoH is obviously the heart of that, they plan to go beyond just the MMO. He wouldn’t get into specifics, but made clear that there will be other projects set in the world. (emphasis added, full story here)

So that begs the question: is the very next, new City game going to be an MMO? If not, what else could it be?

• An action-platformer that follows a major City hero or villain in a single storyline, like God of War?
• A 3D fighting game like SoulCalibur?
• An RTS staging massive battles between human units and Rikti like StarCraft?
• Perhaps most obviously, an action RPG in the vein of X-Men Legends?

Personally, while I love the heroes and villains I’ve created dearly, that doesn’t mean I think the mythology in City is compelling enough to justify games in other genres. Mis-steps such as the dissolving of the Fifth Column and the completely weird Kheldian evolution/parasitic relationship took away charm and focus, and other elements, while fun, aren’t unified enough into a cohesive universe. It reminds me of EverQuest– lots of variety but the sum isn’t greater than its parts. Granted, I’m a bit of a purist and like my space sci-fi in space sci-fi, action fantasy in action fantasy and never the two to mix, so I’m not the best advocate for Rikti, Kheldians and inter-dimensional travel. What would you prefer? Email us and let us know.

The other thing that makes these other-genre ideas a little iffy is that this team has not proven itself in any genre other than MMOs. That’s not to say they can’t succeed, and I’m sure there are plenty of employees hankering to do something hugely different, but I’d hate to see the studio take a major hit over an idealistic plan to try something outside the comfort zone.