June 7^th, 2006 (7:27pm) - NCsoft has announced the release of a free expansion to City of Villains and City of Heroes, Issue 7: "Destiny Manifest," in both North America and Europe.

In addition to level 40 to 50 content for villains, the new expansion adds the opportunity for villains to wreak havoc in new "mayhem missions," and a player-versus-player (PvP) zone where villains and heroes clash to control a dynamically changing battlefield.

The expansion is free to both City of Heroes and City of Villains’ subscribers.

The new City of Villains 40 to 50 level content includes more than 300 new missions and a new zone for level 40 and higher players, Grandville. Grandville contains Spider City, the vertically built capital of Lord Recluse™, the leader of the Arachnos, the top villain group in City of Villains.

Highlighting the new mission sets are mayhem missions, which allow villains to enter instanced City of Heroes zones in Paragon City™. During these missions, villains may wreak as much havoc on the zone as possible, reaping unique rewards and loot. The mayhem mission zones are destructible environments where villains can unlock multiple random events, harass citizens and battle the new Paragon City Police.

A new feature to both City of Heroes and City of Villains is the unique level 40 to 50 PvP zone, Recluse’s Victory. Recluse’s Victory is a replica of Paragon City’s Atlas Park™, where villains and heroes battle for heavily armed control points. Depending on who has the upper hand, the zone will change from a neutral setting to reflect the peaceful and shining version of Atlas Park where heroes are victorious or to a dark and scarred vision of Atlas Park where villainous forces dominate. Heroes and villains can take battlefield control over powerful artillery including mobile siege weapons that can help turn the tide of battle. When one side takes an advantage in Recluse’s Victory, powerful signature characters may appear to aid the struggling side and help take back control points, allowing players to have toe-to-toe battles with the likes of Lord Recluse or Statesman.

Issue 7 allows villains who surpass level 40 to obtain "patron powers," a new set of abilities derived from one of the City of Villains signature villains: Ghost Widow™, Captain Mako™, Scirocco™ or Black Scorpion™. Examples of the new villain patron powers are Ghost Widow’s soul storm which levitates and spins its victims in the air and Captain Mako’s spirit shark power that fires destructive shark spirits at opponents.

This free expansion also includes new base features including storage items, empowerment stations, super group banners and base color tinting. Additionally, the expansion provides a new set of costume options and adds sweeping art and graphics improvements to City of Heroes.

City of Villains and City of Heroes are available at retailers in North America and Europe as well as at the NCsoft online store at www.plaync.com. Both games include the first month of online game play, and after the first month, players will be charged a monthly subscription fee of US$14.99. Customers who purchase City of Heroes and City of Villains can play both games for the single subscription price of US$14.99.

For more information on City of Villains go to: www.cityofvillains.com, and for more information on City of Heroes, go to: www.cityofheroes.com.