DC Universe Online or DCUO is a MMORPG being developed by Sony Online Austin. Jim Lee serves as the game's Executive Creative Director, along with Carlos D'Anda, JJ Kirby, Oliver Nome, Eddie Nunez, Livio Ramondelli, and Michael Lopez. EverQuest developers Chris Cao and Shawn Lord are also involved. When asked whether the game would require a monthly subscription to play, or free to play, Sony's Wes Yanagi suggested that they are leaning towards the expansion-pack business model, as opposed to the traditional subscription fee although such matters hadn't been solidified yet at Sony Online Entertainment.

On July 4, 2008, the first conceptual art was released for the game. The first trailer was released on July 14, 2008. New concept art and screenshots for the game were released the next day. The developers held a Q&A on the same day, where players could ask questions about the gameplay and other aspects of the game. Other interviews and information about the game have also come online. It was revealed on their Myspace page that the first public demo of the game would be shown during Comic-Con International. Other interviews have also been found regarding the game. Information about the games' reveal at Comic-Con has also surfaced. A making of DCUO video has been released. The game has been scheduled for release in early 2010.


Gameplay

DC Universe Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the DC Universe. SOE hopes to make a different kind of MMORPG, with The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction being cited as one of the main inspirations for gameplay. SOE is working to make DC Universe Online more interactive than standard MMORPGs, while trying to keep key elements of RPGs, which include a leveling system and inventories. The world is mainly shared, public space instead of heroes or villains owning territory. The public space features dynamically-generated content designed for both hero and villain player characters (uniquely created by the player, who cannot choose DCU stalwarts), which may lead to interesting Player Versus Player battles[citation needed].

It is known that players choose a city of origin for their character, the currently known cities being Metropolis and Gotham City. Another location currently known to be in the game is Arkham Asylum, Gotham City's mental institution for criminals (including a number of Batman's more psychopathic enemies, such as the Joker, Poison Ivy, the Riddler, and Two-Face). The character is given either a Justice League or a Legion of Doom communicator - depending on their choice of playing as either a hero or a villain - and the character's allegiance will affect how the game is played; for example, a hero character may encounter a thug robbing an armored truck while a villain character will instead rob (or, depending on character level, assist in the robbing of) said armored truck. It is also known that player characters have threat ratings which will cause both heroes and villains alike to interact accordingly with the character[citation needed].

IGN previewed a demo video, showing Brainiac infecting citizens of Metropolis with a nanovirus that causes them to riot in the streets. Lex Luthor decides to test out his battle armor and Bizarro comes to "help" Superman, who, along with Supergirl and Green Lantern, help the 'player character' defeat the infected citizens and remove the nanovirus. It's not yet known whether this mission will appear in the final game.

The game is now in the alpha stage of development. It has been reported that the game may be Free to Play.


Confirmed Characters

Heroes

Ambush Bug
Aquaman
Atom
Azrael
Batgirl
Batman
Bat-Mite
Batwoman
Beast Boy
Black Canary
Black Lightning
Blue Beetle
Booster Gold
Brainiac 5
Captain Atom
Captain Marvel
Congo Bill
Creeper
Cyborg
Doctor Fate
Etrigan the Demon
Fire
Firestorm
Flash
Grace
Green Arrow
Green Lantern
Hawkgirl
Hawkman
Huntress
Lobo
Martian Manhunter
Metamorpho
Nightwing
Plastic Man
Power Girl
Question
Raven
Ravager
Red Tornado
Robin
Sgt. Rock
Spectre
Spy Smasher
Starfire
Supergirl
Superman
Swamp Thing
Tasmanian Devil
Vigilante
Vixen
Wildcat
Wonder Woman
Zatanna



Villains

Ares
Bane
Batzarro
Bizarro
Black Adam
Black Manta
Black Mask
Blue Snowman
Brainiac
Captain Boomerang
Captain Cold
Catwoman
Cheetah
Cheshire
Circe
Clayface
Clock King
Cyborg Superman
Darkseid
Deathstroke
Doctor Poison
Doomsday
Firefly
General Zod
Gentleman Ghost
Gorilla Grodd
Hades
Harley Quinn
Heat Wave
Hush Joker
Key
Killer Croc
Killer Frost
King Shark
Lex Luthor
Livewire
Mad Hatter
Man-Bat
Maxie Zeus
Merlyn
Metallo
Mongul
Mr. Freeze
Mr. Mxyzptlk
Mr. Zsasz
Ocean Master
Parasite
Penguin
Poison Ivy
Prankster
Prometheus
Ra's al Ghul
Riddler
Scarecrow
Silver Banshee
Silver Swan
Sinestro
Solomon Grundy
Tattooed Man Toyman
Trickster
Two-Face
Ultra-Humanite
Ultraman
Ventriloquist
Zoom


Images

I feel like this has been in production since the dawn of time right now.

Agreed disel, seems like I've been hearing about it forever now. Can't wait to play it, the cast of characters is huge.

Yea i'm making me a Green Lantern!

I absolutely CANNOT wait. It's set to be released this upcoming March, right?

I didn't know that there's a possibility of it being free to play. Could be good or bad ...

But still excited.

Im very sceptical about Super-Heroes videogames, especially if it's a MMO. I really wish i wasnt but cant help myself of being afraid of whats to come.
Batman Arkham Asylum was the only exception to the STANDING rule since ZX Spectrum days. I tried City of Heroes and Villains and felt it was lacking something and did not consider those good games. Let's hope DC Universe can pull it off.

I'm still torn on what kind of character I want to make but if its, good past a week of playing it I will quit W.O.W

Looking forward to this game. It has been a long time coming!

That's unfortunate, I like City of Heroes! I have a feeling/hope that DCU is going to be better though, and that (not that I play much) I'll probably drop CoH altogether for it.
Was there anything in particular you didn't enjoy about the game though? And have you tried Champions Online yet? Actually, open question to all, does anyone here play CO or tried it and what do you think about it? If that's getting too off-topic, just ignore me. lol

If this does end up being free, I wonder if it would be a Runes of Magic kind of thing...
I mean, I love that is free, but it just doesn't live up to World of Warcraft.
I would hate to see this game go down the drain just because they wanted it to be accessible by everyone.

EB Games is now taking pre-orders for 3 different versions of this

THREE? Jesus wept.

afraid other games will have my attention,star wars....and so on by time it gets here

Sigh. Wikipedia says that the release date has been changed yet again to 9 November 2010. I am way too impatient for this ...

Game Plot Revealed: