NCsoft's City of Villains Goes Gold is the press release announcing Cryptic's follow-up to City of Heroes is gold, and the MMORPG should be heading to stores in North America by the end of the month. The announcement also has word that those who have pre-ordered will get a two-day head start on the game:

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 2005--NCsoft® North America announces that City of Villains(TM) has reached gold master status and will appear on retailers' shelves in North America at the end of the month. NCsoft also confirmed that customers who purchased and registered their City of Villains pre-order boxes will receive a two-day head start for game play.

City of Villains, a stand-alone sequel to last year's hit, City of Heroes®, is expected to be released on Oct. 31, with a subscription price of $14.99 per month. The two-day head start will begin after 12 a.m. EST on Oct. 29. Purchasers of the City of Villains pre-order box, which is currently available at retailers across North America, have been invited into the City of Villains beta test and may participate in the head-start.

Existing City of Heroes' customers can purchase City of Villains and subscribe to both games for the single subscription price of $14.99. Both games were developed by Cryptic Studios(TM).