This week marks the third anniversary of the original US release of City of Heroes, back in April 2004. Over the past three years, the game has grown and developed at an incredible rate, with the release of City of Villains and no less than 8 feature-packed ‘Issue’ updates - with Issue #9 and the revolutionary Inventions system just around the corner.

What hasn’t changed, though, is the amazing loyalty, dedication and enthusiasm of our players, without which none of this would have been possible. It seems only fitting, then, to celebrate three years of City of Heroes with three free gifts for all our current subscribers*...

• The first of these gifts is a gift itself - a special ‘buddy’ code that allows you to give the game to a friend, included in the three year anniversary email that has been sent to all current subscribers*. This buddy code includes 10 days of game time, and allows full access to both City of Heroes and City of Villains. Just the thing for a friend who’s interested in joining your heroic adventures, or for someone you’ve already sent a free trial to via the new Refer a Friend program. For more information about the buddy code and how to use it, click here.
• The second gift is a free ‘respec’ for all your existing characters. This will be granted next Tuesday, 1 May, and will allow you to reselect all your character’s powers and enhancement slots. With all the new options offered by the Invention system coming in Issue #9, this ‘freespec’ may come in handy, so be sure to use it wisely.
• Thirdly, there’s a special Three Year Anniversary badge, which will be included with Issue #9 and awarded to all characters who log into the game for a limited period. We’ll have more details on the exact dates soon.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our players for your support - and to welcome you to the fourth year of City of Heroes!

* Please note that in order to receive email promotions such as the free Buddy Code to celebrate the third anniversary, you must choose to accept emails from PlayNC. To do this, log into your PlayNC Master Account at http://eu.plaync.com/ and click ‘EDIT CONTACT INFO’ at the bottom of the page, then check the box in the bottom right.