Despite the apparent demise of Flagship Studios, Hellgate: London is alive and kicking, and may even find itself in the care of a surprise savior.
The company announced the layoff of most of its staff earlier in July, followed by the closure of its official forums and a “temporary” shutdown of Mythos, the MMOG the studio had in development. It also found itself caught up in a controversy over the future ownership of Hellgate: London with Korean distributor HanibSoft, which laid claim to ownership of the game and said it would “properly manage and develop Hellgate: London into a good game with proper content.”
As Flagship continues to implode, however, fans of the game received some good news in the form of a notice from Zack “Ozuri” Karlsson, Senior Director of Business Development at Namco Bandai Games of America, who said that despite the problems at Flagship, Hellgate: London will continue to operate.
“I know everyone is looking for an announcement, and we’d love to make one – but right now, many things are in flux and we don’t know all the information yet. As soon as we do, we’ll post here on the forums, on the website, and anywhere else we can find you,” Karlsson said in a message posted on the official Hellgate: London forums. “In the short term, please do not worry. The game is up, the servers are not going away in the short term and any major changes to status will be communicated in advance.”
“I’d like to ask for your patience as we try to figure it all out and chart a new course,” he continued. “We value your community, your commitment, and your passion for Hellgate and we will make sure that any solution that we architect will support all of you as best as we are able. Thanks again. We hope to have a real announcement shortly.”
Whether Namco Bandai, one of the game’s publishers, is preparing to step in and take over from Flagship is currently a matter of pure speculation, but the fact that an announcement like this is coming from a Namco Bandai executive, rather than someone at Flagship, is telling. Flagship’s future may be grim, but it looks like Hellgate: London, and perhaps even Mythos, might have a future.
Source: Gaming Today
