AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 15, 2005 - City of Villains, one of the most anticipated PC games of 2005, is making its presence felt on retail stores shelves throughout the United States and Canada with a pre-order box that features access to the game’s beta testing and a two-day head-start over other players before the anticipated commercial launch of the massively multiplayer online game later this year.

City of Villains, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft - North America, is the stand-alone sequel to last year’s critical and commercial hit, City of Heroes®.

Customers who pre-order City of Villains will also receive an exclusive in-game Arachnos costume piece, a limited edition “Lord Recluse(tm) versus Statesman(tm)” poster, and a CD-ROM that includes City of Villains videos, art, wallpapers, screenshots, a Rogue Isles map, a City of Heroes comic book and other valuable offers.

“This pre-order package is quite robust and is a great start for City of Villains at the retail level,” said Jack Beuttell, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising for Gamestop Corp. “City of Villains is shaping up to be one of the biggest PC releases of the year, and this pre-order will give customers a preview that should kick-up anticipation levels to another notch.“

In City of Villains, players will be able to take on villainous personas, customizing villain costumes and building bases for their super-power groups. Both the villain costume creator and the base creator will offer the same type of nearly limitless customization options that made the City of Heroes costume creator so acclaimed.

In addition to a variety of technological advances and a huge set of criminal missions and events within the Rogue Isles, City of Villains will also include player-versus-player (PvP) action and the ability to fight against player controlled heroes from the City of Heroes game within special designated PvP zones.

For more information about the City of Villains pre-order offer, go to www.cityofvillains.com.