Since being pushed to an amorphous "spring 2011" release window back in October, DC Universe Online has been given a solid launch date once and for all: January 11 in North America and January 14 in the UK. Sony Online Entertainment confirmed the dates in an interview with IGN, also announcing the game's $199 lifetime subscription price (a bit over 13 months worth of sub. fees). "We're going to be here for far more than a single year. We've got a lot of universe to build, and we're not going to stop anytime soon," game director Chris Cao said of the lifetime subscription pricing.

Cao also detailed an end-of-the-world event that will take place within DCUO before it launches in January. "Jim Lee and our friends at DC are going to join us in a live, end-of-beta event where players will fight alongside and against the iconics as Brainiac's menace yet looms," he explained, adding, "It will be an epic end and thank you for beta. And it will set the stage for the real struggle to come in live."

Another struggle to come alongside the game's launch? How to get players to choose another mentor -- as expected, Superman was the favorite "by far." Of course, we'll be bucking the trend with a super villain mimicking hip-hop personality MF Doom. Too obvious?