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DC Universe Online
Developer(s)	Dimensional Ink Games
Publisher(s)	Daybreak Game Company WB Games
Director(s)	S.J. Mueller
Writer(s)	Geoff Johns
Composer(s)	Gerard Marino Chad Mossholder
Engine	Unreal Engine 3[1]
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Nintendo Switch PlayStation 3 (discontinued) PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Xbox One Xbox Series X/S
Release	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 January 11, 2011 PlayStation 4 November 15, 2013 Xbox One April 29, 2016 Nintendo Switch August 6, 2019 PlayStation 5 March 26, 2024 Xbox Series X/S TBA
Genre(s)	Massively multiplayer online, action
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

DC Universe Online (DCUO) is a free-to-play action combat massively multiplayer online game^[2] set in the fictional universe of DC Comics. Developed by Dimensional Ink Games and co-published by Daybreak Game Company and WB Games, the game was initially released in January 2011 for Windows and PlayStation 3. It would later release in November 2013 for PlayStation 4, April 2016 for Xbox One and August 2019 for Nintendo Switch.

DC Universe Online is Arleen Sorkin's final performance, before her death on August 24, 2023.

Gameplay

The player creates a new, original character that interacts with the iconic heroes and villains of DC Comics. Players choose their character's faction (Hero or Villain), gender (male or female), body type (short, medium, tall, spry, athletic, large), personality (comical, flirty, powerful, primal, serious), movement mode (flight, acrobatics, speed or skimming), weapon, and power (fire, ice, gadgets, mental, nature, sorcery, earth, light, electricity, rage, quantum, celestial, munitions, atomic, and water). Numerous hair, skin, and costume types are available, and up to 4 colors can be applied to the color scheme palette. Pre-built templates, inspired by some key DC characters, are available to expedite the character creation process.

When the player's character is named, they are thrown into the world of DC Universe Online with the first experience having to fight their way out of a Brainiac spaceship. The tutorial teaches basic movement and abilities, counter mechanics, and using power and skill points. Eventually the player's character is made an official member of the Justice League (heroes) or The Society (villains), where they continue on their missions to increase their level and skill in various content. Daybreak Game Company is working to make DC Universe Online more interactive than standard MMO games, while trying to keep their key elements which include a leveling system, raid instances, endgame progression and inventories. The world is mainly a shared, public space. The public space features dynamically generated content designed for both hero and villain player characters to progress and fight alongside and against a multitude of iconic DC Comics characters, moving forward with stories, many of which are brought forth from the pages of DC comics.^[2]

DC Universe Online has been actively updating through Game Updates (GU) and Hotfixes. Aside from bug fixes, several Game Updates involve Seasonal Events which provide special feats, styles, base items, overworld missions and instances exclusive to the time frame it runs for, usually a month. There are three Events that tend to cycle throughout the year: Survival Mode, Legends PvE and Stabilizer Fragment Instances. DC Universe Online offers downloadable content (DLC) called Episodes which expand the game universe with new, more difficult missions to progress that provide new or continuations of stories already existing; new costume styles and equipment.^[3][4]

Plot

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The opening cinematic takes place in a gritty, war-torn future depicting a final battle between the world's greatest heroes and villains. A future version of Lex Luthor provides voice-over narration. This battle takes place in the ruins of Metropolis. Lex Luthor, wearing a heavy mech armor, commands an army of super-villains that includes Joker, Harley Quinn, Circe, Deathstroke, Black Adam, Giganta, Metallo and Poison Ivy. A scarred, armored Batman commands the heroes, which includes Cyborg, Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow. Both Poison Ivy and Green Arrow are shown dead at the beginning of the cut scene. The battle culminates with the death of Wonder Woman at Luthor's hands, at which point an unshaven, weary Superman hears her dying screams from orbit and flies to Earth to confront him. As Superman cradles Wonder Woman's dead body, he collapses to the ground and it is revealed that Luthor hid Kryptonite pellets in her mouth as a trap. Luthor impales Superman with a kryptonite-tipped spear, and stands back to proclaim his victory only to see Brainiac's war fleet fill the skies.

The scene then shifts to the present-day Watchtower, where the future Lex Luthor, heavily modified with Brainiac technology, is telling the story to the present-day Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Future Luthor explains that the deadly final war between the heroes and villains was triggered by the subtle manipulations of Brainiac (who had been slowly downloading their powers over time). With the planet's most powerful beings dead, Brainiac intended to use the pirated data to create an army of metahumans under his control, facilitating his conquest of Earth. As the sole survivor of the war, Luthor could do nothing to resist Brainiac's subjugation of the planet. Luthor explains that he was able to survive in secret and eventually steal the stolen data and energy from Brainiac's mothership in the form of "exobytes" (nanobot-sized devices that can bond to a living host and give them their own superpowers). Luthor has traveled into his past to release the exobytes into the atmosphere of present-day Earth. The heroes are outraged, but Luthor explains that because he has done this, soon thousands of new metahumans will be created from ordinary humans (becoming the player-characters of the game). He implores the Justice League to find and train these new metahumans, because Brainiac is coming and the Earth must be ready to succeed where it was once doomed to fail.

When this cinematic ends, the player is brought to the character creation menu to build their new Hero or Villain.

In the second trailer to the game "In Lex we Trust", it is revealed that Lex Luthor's description of events leading up to his arrival in the present time is not as he described to the heroes. The trailer begins with Luthor reviving his companion Fracture from being unconscious. Luthor explains that Brainiac's forces have already penetrated the Fortress of Solitude and that their time is running out. As they approach a time portal chamber, a Brainiac Eradicator attacks and Fracture destroys the robotic drone with a small grenade. The two arrive at the portal which is being stabilized by Batman (whose face is disfigured and arm is replaced by a robotic prosthetic due to injuries from the battle of villains and heroes). As more eradicators enter the chamber, as Luthor lies saying his armor is damaged and that he can not hold them off. Batman tells Fracture to take the canister that contains millions of exobytes and go through the portal, while attacking the Eradicators in order to buy him more time. Fracture thanks Luthor for using the exobytes to give him his powers. Seeing the opportunity he had been waiting for, Luthor kills Fracture describing him as "an excellent lab rat." Before Luthor steps into the portal, Batman calls to Luthor warning that "I'll be coming for you" to which Luthor responds "No, you won't" and activates a self-destruct sequence. Luthor enters the portal and the Fortress of Solitude suffers massive explosions. He arrives in a dark alley, presumably present day. He is greeted by his present-day self who describes him as being late.

At the end of "The Prime Battleground" raid, Future Lex Luthor and Lex Luthor worked together to steal Brainiac's power. Luthor is then betrayed by Future Luthor, wanting the power for himself. It is then revealed Future Batman survived the explosion at the Fortress of Solitude and chased Future Luthor through time. Future Luthor escapes and Future Batman follows him. In the following cut-scene, Future Batman is said to be the last hope for humanity.

Following these events, the heroes led by Future Batman and villains led by Future Luthor to the "Nexus of Reality" (the center of the Multiverse itself) both fight for control, using paradoxes from constant time-travels to alter the histories of iconic characters, forcing heroes and villains to work parallel to each other, changing the timelines in the same fashion. What one causes, the other reverts, thus making an infinite cycle. This results in a massive paradox creature that consumes time itself. In the raid, players must stop the creature from destroying the time-space continuum (one of the many raids where both villains and heroes have the same goal). This event partially ends the storyline the game was based upon, yet opens the possibility to enter many new realities.

Since then, there have been certain stories tied in reflecting the Arrowverse, with the introduction of Nanda Parbat, fighting alongside characters featured in Legends of Tomorrow, and a Supergirl Costume Legends character.^[5] Content from the DC Extended Universe has also been released. Other comic centered storylines feature "Sons of Trigon", "Blackest Night", "Amazon Fury", "Halls of Power", "Bombshells Paradox", "Bottle City of Kandor", "Harley Quinn", "Earth 3", "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract", "Justice League Dark", "Dark Nights: Metal" and Birds of Prey in Episodes.^[6]

Development

Concept art for the game was released on July 4, 2008,^[7] and the first trailer was released on July 14, 2008.^[8] Sony Online Entertainment's goal was to make a different kind of MMO game, with The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction cited as one of the main inspirations for gameplay.

A beta was available from December 14, 2010, until January 5, 2011. There were a number of technical issues that came to light when the beta was closed, which were partially resolved by the game's release. EverQuest developers Chris Cao and Shawn Lord were involved.^[9] Chris Cao was the game director up to May 2011, since stepped down to be replaced by Mark Anderson, previously the art director.^[10] Mark Anderson has since been replaced by Jens Andersen, who was promoted to Executive Creative Director of Daybreak Game Company with S.J. Mueller creative director. Comic artists Alé Garza, Carlos D'Anda, JJ Kirby, Oliver Nome, Eddie Nuñez, Livio Ramondelli, and Michael Lopez also contributed to the leveling content headlines and cutscenes. In August 2011, there was a global server merge implemented by the developers to consolidate all PC servers and PlayStation 3 servers into 4 individual servers, one for each platform per region. On September 19, 2011, it was announced that the game would go free-to-play on November 1, 2011, along with the addition of microtransactions. In mid-2013, as part of a hosting deal, accounts for the European PC version were sold to ProSiebenSat.1, however they were still capable of using the US servers. DC Universe Online was announced for the PlayStation 4 on June 5, 2013, along with PlanetSide 2, and was released November 15, 2013. After Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), had announced their All Access Membership changes, SOE and ProSiebenSat.1 parted ways, returning the accounts to SOE.^[11] All accounts are managed by Daybreak Game Company.^[12]

During the fifth anniversary livestream on January 11, 2016, it was announced that the two regional servers, US and EU would receive cross play, with players on PC able to play with players on the PlayStation version on the same server, only divided by region. An Xbox One version of the game was also announced on January 11, 2016, for release on April 29 of the same year,^[13] which launched on two separate regional servers that have since been consolidated into one XB server,^[14] not connected to the PC or PS versions of the game.^[15] On February 5, both USPC USPS servers were merged into one US server and EUPC and EUPS were merged into one EU server. The same restrictions of not being able to log into or transfer a PS account on PC and vice versa has been maintained.^[16]

On October 30, 2017, Daybreak Game Company stated the PlayStation 3 version would shut down on January 31, 2018, to focus on providing a better experience on the PlayStation 4.^[17] Utilizing the same PSN, a PlayStation 3 player can access their account on PlayStation 4.

On May 23, 2019, a Nintendo Switch version of the game was announced, set for Summer 2019, and has since released two separate regional USNS and EUNS servers on August 6, 2019.^[18]

On January 21, 2020, it was announced that the Daybreak Austin Studio that has developed the game since its conception would become their own studio, Dimensional Ink Games, that will continue developing DC Universe Online and a new high-profile next-generation action MMORPG, with Daybreak Games Company now acting in a publisher role.^[19]

Episodes

To showcase their ongoing support for DC Universe Online and provide new content that enriches the world of DC Universe Online, Daybreak Game Company has released 46 Episodes. These episodes were originally available to members who have an active subscription or cost a fee for non-members, however since the House of Legends Episode in August 2021, all episodes are freely accessible.^[20] Many of the Episodes required users to have completed certain achievements or complete game progression elements to access the content. Players can progress through engaging storylines, earn new achievements, experience new zones, and earn new armor that helps progress their character.

Episode 1: Fight for the Light

On September 6, 2011, the first DC Universe Online episode, Fight For The Light, was released. This episode allowed players to embark on a new adventure with Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps as their battle becomes the forefront of the episode. Some of the key features of this episode include a new Tier 3 Duo in Ferris Aircraft, two Tier 2 Alerts with Oan Sciencells and S.T.A.R. Labs Research Facility, and a Tier 3 alert in Coast City. This episode also brought the new Controller powerset "Light", based on Green and Yellow lanterns for heroes and villains respectively.^[21]

Episode 2: Lightning Strikes

The second episode, Lightning Strikes, was released on December 6, 2011. This episode allowed players to battle through new open-world solo and group activities in a new high-level open-world map of Central City. Players can explore the origin of The Flash and take on some of his opponents in the villainous Rogues. Some of the key features of this episode include the open-world Central City map with daily Tier 3 missions, nine daily Tier 3 Bounties, and a Flashback Tier 2 Duo. Alongside this content came the new Healer power "Electricity".^[21]

Episode 3: The Battle for Earth

On March 13, 2012, the third episode, The Battle for Earth, was released. This episode largely continued the story in the fight against Brainiac which was one of the main storylines in the DC Universe Online base game. Players would fight for the fate of the universe with cooperative gameplay against Braniac. Some of the key features of this episode include three Tier 2 Duos in Riverfront Center, Gotham Hospital, and Riverside Hotel, one Tier 3 Alert in South Gotham Courthouse, and two Tier 4 Raids in the Gates of Tartarus and The Prime Battleground. In addition, the new Tank power, "Earth" was added in and the Battle For South Gotham featured daily Tier 2 missions.^[21]

Episode 4: The Last Laugh

The fourth episode, The Last Laugh, was released on June 19, 2012. This episode focused on the Joker as he gained access to hero and villain safe houses to stir up additional controversy between the player factions. Some of the key features of this episode include one Tier 3 hero Duo in Shady Nightclub, and one Tier 3 villain Duo in Police Station.^[21] This marked the final performance of Arleen Sorkin before her retirement. This was also her final time voicing her iconic character Harley Quinn.

Episode 5: Hand of Fate

On August 14, 2012, the fifth episode, Hand of Fate, was released. The episode revolved around DC hero Doctor Fate and would give players a chance to fight through new mystical story content. Some of the key features of this episode include two Tier 4 4-player Operations in Wayward Souls, and Soul Alchemy. In addition, this episode released four Tier 4 8-player Operations in With a Vengeance, A Black Dawn, Unpaid Dues, and Seeds of Rot.^[21]

Episode 6: Home Turf

The sixth episode, Home Turf, was released on January 29, 2013. The episode focused on both new and iconic locations that DC fans would be familiar with as they battle through new objectives and missions. Some of the key features of this episode include two daily Tier 4 hero missions located at Ace Chemicals and Stryker's Island, two daily Tier 4 villain missions located at Steelworks and Arkham Island, and daily Tier 4 Bounties.^[21]

Episode 7: Origin Crisis

On May 8, 2013, the seventh episode, Origin Crisis, was released. The episode continued the story from The Battle for Earth episode, as players travel through time to fight for control of space, time, and the universe itself. Some of the key features of this episode include two Tier 5 Challenges in Iconic Anomaly: The Hunt and Iconic Anomaly: Test Subject #1, two Tier 5 4-Player Operations in Brothers in Arms and Family Reunion, and two Tier 5 Raids in Nexus of Reality and Paradox Wave while introducing the new Controller power, Quantum, where players control time and space.^[21]

Episode 8: Sons of Trigon

The eighth episode, Sons of Trigon, was released on August 29, 2013, for subscribers, and September 3, 2013, for those players who did not have an active subscription. The episode focused on going against DC villain Trigon as he takes over an alternate Gotham City. Some of the key features of this episode include a new location in Gotham Wastelands with daily Tier 5 missions, three Tier 5 Duos in Tunnel of Lust, Ruined Cathedral, and Knighsdome Arena, one Tier 5 Alert, and DC hero Raven featured as a weekly Tier 5 Bounty. Continuing the new trio of new powers, this episode brought the combo-based "Celestial" Healer power.^[21]

Episode 9: War of the Light Part I

On January 22, 2014, the ninth episode, War of the Light Part I, was released. The episode revolved around the continuing battle between the Lantern Corps in Metropolis. Some of the key features of this episode include two Tier 5 4-Player Operations in Mist Recovery and Strike Team, one Tier 5 8-Player Operation in Assault and Battery, a new location in Downtown Metropolis Battlezone with weekly Tier 5 missions, and gave players access to either Ranx's Command Center or Mogo's Command Center. And finishing the new powers trio, it brought "Rage" as a tank power based on the Red Lanterns.^[21]

Episode 10: Amazon Fury Part I

The tenth episode, Amazon Fury Part I, was released on April 30, 2014, for players with an active subscription, and May 6, 2014, for players who did not have an active subscription. The episode focused on the battle between DC hero Wonder Woman and her mother Queen Hippolyta. Some of the key features of this episode include two Tier 6 Challenges in Aegis of Truth and Circe's Trial, two Tier 6 Duos in Port of Paradise and Supply Lines, one Tier 6 Alert in Themyscira Divided, and a new location in Gotham Under Siege with daily Tier 6 missions.^[21]

Episode 11: Halls of Power Part I

On August 6, 2014, the eleventh episode, Halls of Power Part I, was released. The episode revolved around the New Gods of the Fourth World as they sought new ways to take control and engage in strategic battles on a cosmic level. Some of the key features of this episode include one Tier 6 4-Player Operation in Intergang Crime Wave, one Tier 6 Alert in Security Breach, one Tier 6 8-Player Operation in Artifacts from the Past, and two Tier 6 Raids in Relics of Urgrund and Lockdown.^[21]

Episode 12: War of the Light Part II

The twelfth episode, War of the Light Part II, was released on November 11, 2014, for players who had an active subscription, and November 18, 2014, for players who did not have an active subscription. The episode revolved around continuing the story first started in War of the Light Part I and the battle between the Lantern Corps. Some of the key features of this episode include one Tier 6 Challenge in Spark of Parallax, one Tier 6 Duo in Spark of Ion, one Tier 6 Alert in Zamaron Conversion Chamber, two Tier 6 4-Player Operations in Avarice Impurity and Rage Impurity, one Tier 6 8-Player Operation in Love and War, and featured a return to the Downtown Metropolis Battlezone location.^[21]

Episode 13: Amazon Fury Part II

On February 3, 2015, for members and February 12th, 2015 for non-members, the thirteenth episode Amazon Fury Part II, was released for players with an active subscription and players without respectively. The episode revolved around continuing the story first started in Amazon Fury Part I as players would continue the fight against the Amazon queen Hippolyta. Some of the key features of this episode include two Tier 6 Operations in Return to the Nexus and Act of Defiance, three Tier 6 Raids in Labyrinth of Lost Souls, Halls of Hades, and Throne of the Dead, in addition to a return to Gotham Under Siege location with daily Tier 6 missions.^[21]

Episode 14: Halls of Power Part II

The fourteenth episode, Halls of Power Part II, was released on May 12, 2015, for players with an active subscription, and May 19, 2015, for players without an active subscription. The episode revolved around continuing the story first started in the Halls of Power Part I episode, as players would continue their battle against the New Gods. Some of the key features of this episode include two Tier 7 Duos in Resource Recovery and League Hall: Malfunction, one Tier 7 4-Player Operation in Fatal Exams, one Tier 7 8-Player Operation in New Genesis Now, one Tier 7 Raid in Happiness Home, and a new location in New Genesis which gave players access to daily Tier 7 missions.^[21]

Episode 15: Bombshells Paradox & Corrupted Zamaron

On August 5, 2015, for members and August 12th, 2015 for non-members, the fifteenth episode Bombshells Paradox & Corrupted Zamaron, was released for players with an active subscription and without respectively. The episode revolved around players traveling to an alternate WW2-inspired universe where the DC Bombshells were faced with an infinite timeline war. Some of the core features of this episode include one Tier 7 8-Player Operation called The Bombshell Paradox, and one Tier 7 Duo in Corrupted Zamaron.^[21]

Episode 16: Desecrated Cathedral and Oa Under Siege

The sixteenth episode, Desecrated Cathedral and Oa Under Siege, was released on September 2, 2015, for members, and September 9th, 2015 for non-members. The episode revolved around players defending OA as it faced a new threat from the Black Lantern Corps, and a new storyline with DC hero Raven. Some of the core features of this episode include one Tier 7 Alert in Desecrated Cathedral and one Tier 7 Challenge in Oa Under Siege.^[21]

Episode 17: Unholy Matrimony & The Flash Museum Burglary

On October 7, 2015, for members and October 14th, 2015 for non-members, the seventeenth episode, Unholy Matrimony and The Flash Museum Burglary, was released. The episode revolved around players continuing the storyline told in Episode 16 Desecrated Catherdral and a continuation of the League of Assassins storyline that started in Episode 15 The Bombshells Paradox. Some of the core features of this episode include one Tier 7 8-Player Operation in Unholy Matrimony and one Tier 7 Duo in Flash Museum Burglary.^[21]

Episode 18: The Demon's Pit and Blackest Day

The eighteenth episode, The Demon's Pit and Blackest Day, was released on November 4, 2015, for members, and November 11th, 2015 for non-members. The episode revolved around players finishing the War of the Light saga and combating the League of Assassins' interest in Central City. Some of the core features of this episode include one Tier 7 8-Player Operation in Blackest Day and one Tier 7 Duo in The Demon's Pit.^[21]

Episode 19: The Demon's Plan and Deep Desires

On December 2, 2015, for members and December 9th, 2015 and non-members, the nineteenth episode, The Demon's Plan and Deep Desires, was released. The episode revolved around concluding the League of Assassins storyline and served as an epilogue to the Episode 17 Unholy Matrimony storyline. Some of the core features of this episode include one Tier 7 Alert in The Demon's Plan and one Tier 7 Duo in Deep Desires.^[21]

Episode 20: Blackest Night & Wastelands Wonderlandedit

The twentieth episode, Blackest Night and Wastelands Wonderland, was released on January 6, 2016, for members with a subscription, and January 13, 2016, for players without an active subscription. The episode revolved around players fighting The Blackest Night and dealing with the fallout from the War of the Light saga. Some of the core features of this episode include one Tier 7 8-Player Operation in Blackest Night and one Tier 7 Duo in Wastelands Wonderland.^[21]

Episode 21: Prison Break and The First Pieceedit

On February 4, 2016, and February 10, 2016, the twenty-first episode, Prison Break and The First Piece, was released. The episode revolved around working with a new stranger that asks the player to go on a couple of adventures. Some of the core features of this episode include one Tier 7 2-Player Operation in The First Piece and one Tier 7 8-Player Operation in Prison Break.^[21]

Episode 22: Science Spire and The Phantom Zoneedit

The twenty-second episode, Science Spire and The Phantom Zone, was released on March 2, 2016, for members and March 9th, 2016 for non-members. The episode revolved around dealing with Phantom Zone malfunctions and sightings of a mysterious figure near the Science Spire. Some of the core features of this episode include one Tier 7 Challenge in The Science Spire and one Tier 7 4-Player Operation in The Phantom Zone.^[21]

Episode 23: The Will of Darkseid and Brainiac's Bottle Shipedit

On April 6, 2016, for members and April 13th, 2016 for non-members, the twenty-third episode, The Will of Darkseid and Brainiac's Bottle Ship, was released. The episode revolved around dealing with prisoners who had escaped from the Phantom Zone and a potential new invasion from Darkseid's forces. Some of the core features of this episode include one Tier 7 2-PLayer Operation in The Will of Darkseid and one Tier 7 8-Player Operation in Braniac's Bottle Ship.^[21]

Episode 24: Harley's Heist and Darkseid's War Factoryedit

The twenty-fourth episode, Harley's Heist and Darkseid's War Factory, was released on May 19, 2016. The episode revolved around dealing with the continuation of the Darkseid storyline started several episodes earlier, and some potential nefarious actions being taken by DC villain Harley Quinn. Some of the core features of this episode include one Tier 8 Duo in Harley's Heist and one Tier 8 Raid in Darkseid's War Factory.^[21]

Episode 25: Iceberg Lounge and A Rip In Timeedit

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