If you recall, NCsoft acquired all of the City of Heroes (CoH) intellectual property (IP) last year. The company also opened a new studio in Mountain View, California, which included employees of Cryptic Studios.

If you've been curious as to what's been going on with the hybrid NCsoft and Cryptic team, wonder no more. CoH Senior Lead Designer Matt Miller brings us up to date on what's been going on since then.

Paradoxically, NCsoft's new studio has both a start-up and a nostalgic feel to it. This is because the team consists of people who had worked together for years now gathered under the banner of new management.

Furthermore, Miller admitted that the atmosphere of the new studio and and that of the current team is very conducive to brainstorming and fun. As a result, Miller and the rest of the team can now implement a lot of new ideas in City of Heroes. Miller notes that he hadn't been able to do so under previous conditions.

What does the future hold for NCsoft and City of Heroes, then? Lots of fun possibilities, according to Miller:

We have a lot of long-term goals and we have been diligently working toward them. We are excited about the possibilities that a single owner brings to the table. Being “under one roof” is affording us more flexibility than ever before and it’s fun having direct contact with all of the different departments here at NCsoft working hard to continue the game’s success. And with our new studio we can confidently plan for Issue 13, 14, and beyond, and hire the people that will make those Issues and goals happen.