There’s news for underwear perverts - NCsoft has announced the formation of a new development studio in Mountain View, California that will be dedicated to develop the City of Heroes property, which, the company mentions, is now owned 100 percent by NCsoft. The previos ownership was split between NCsoft and Cryptic Studios, the original developer of the project.

The new studio will be built around key members of the City of Heroes team from either companies, including the art, programming and design team leads.

“We’re happy to announce that NCsoft has acquired full ownership of the City of Heroes IP,” said Brian Clayton, NCsoft executive producer and manager of the new studio. “Our plans are clear. We are now in a position to make a major reinvestment in the City of Heroes product line. With our existing Cryptic and NCsoft team as the core, we will be able to run our current service without any interruption to our players, expand our studio to deliver triple-A content, and take City of Heroes to new heights.”

While formal plans for the IP are still slated to be announced in the future, it was implied that a sequel to the popular MMO is being developed right now.

The newest expansion to City of Heroes, dubbed Issue 10: “Invasion” is now live, letting City of Heroes and City of Villains players join forces to thwart an attack by aliens hell-bent on destroying Earth. Invasion is free to current subscribers and includes a major redesign of the Rikti Crash Site zone as well as a Rikti co-op task force where heroes and villains team up to defeat alien bosses.

The kick off invasion featured in Issue 10 continues the City of Heroes tradition of global events, and in this case the Rikti attack in constant waves through most of the games’ zones and threaten both Paragon City™ and the Rogue Isles™.

“The Rikti maintain a very powerful position in the lore of City of Heroes and the Rikti invasion event we had during the beta stage of the game is still talked about by veteran players,” said Matt Miller, Cryptic Studio’s lead designer for City of Heroes and City of Villains. “We felt the time was right and it fit into the narrative of the game to unleash another invasion — with a vengeance — and transform the Rikti Crash site into the heart of the new alien incursion.”

The Rikti Crash Site zone has been renamed the Rikti War Zone and is the epicenter of the Rikti’s assault on Earth. The Rikti War Zone, designed for player levels 35 to 50, allows both hero and villain players to work together on missions. Centered around the crashed Rikti mother ship, the Rikti have a variety of new powerful weapons including Rikti Pylons and UXBs or “unexploded bombs.” The Rikti Pylons are heavily armed defensive points surrounding the crashed mother ship which need to be defeated in order to gain access to the ship.

Issue 10, however, provides players with powerful new tools used to combat the Rikti. The Vanguard base established in the Rikti War Zone includes a special Vanguard Workbench that allows players to create special costume pieces as well as Vanguard Support Machines, or “heavies”, that serve as deadly pets in altercations with the Rikti.

“This expansion unleashes total war where aliens and earthlings get great new weapons to bludgeon each other with. We think this will be great fun,” Miller said. “The fact that both heroes and villains need to join together to defeat a common enemy is a comic book convention that helps to add greater depth and excitement to City of Heroes and City of Villains.”

The Rikti co-op task force, set for player levels 45 to 50, can be obtained from the leader of the Vanguard in the Rikti War Zone and delivers high-level adventures for teams composed of both heroes and villains.

New players interested in the game can purchase the Good versus Evil Edition, which includes both games, as well as a set of exclusive bonus items. Customers also receive the first month for free, with following months going for £8.99 / €12.99.

Now that Deluxe editions are all the rage, NCSoft Europe sends word that it will launch the Good Versus Evil Combined Edition, a retail package combining City of Heroes and City of Villains.

To make it all the sweeter, the Combined Edition will include special in-game prestige travel powers and new hero and villain costume pieces. However, these items will also be available to current City of Heroes and City of Villains players via direct serial code purchase beginning September 29, so Combined players aren’t really very special.

Combined Edition will make its debut on store shelves throughout Europe on September 29 for £15/ €25. The retail package comes with 30-days of free play after which players only need to pay £9 per month to have full access to both of the games.