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Why Robin Makes Batman Better Word started passing yesterday that Flagship Studios went caput, and now multiple sites are reporting word that the Hellgate developer is indeed no more.
We got an anonymous tipster who said Flagship shut down abruptly yesterday, and that developers for both Hellgate (San Francisco) and Mythos (Seattle) have all been pink-slipped. “But there’s also hope that they will all have their jobs back at the end of next week at a brand new company”, our tipster says.
But wait, there’s more. Flagship’s Korean partners/owners, Hanbitsoft, were said to be taking over. That sparked a foofaraw regarding who owns the Hellgate intellectual property.
We’re all pretty much aware that Hellgate: London failed, and I’d say we’re all pretty sure of the reasoning behind that failure, but it’s always nice to get confirmation from someone in the know. In an interview with Eurogamer mainly dealing with their new MMO Mythos, Flagship’s operations chief and co-founder Max Schaefer explains that the company just bit off more than they could chew.
From worst to first! Just last month, Flagship’s Hellgate: London made 1UP’s list of the top five botched PC game launches of all time, with regular server crashes and people being billed multiple times for premium subscriptions. The Southeast Asian launch went even worse, with Infocomm Asia Holdings nearly wiping all player progress within the first 30 days of launch. It’s amazing what a few months can do, because now Hellgate: London is being touted as Korea’s most successful online game launch in 3 years. There are over a million active accounts, and the game is the 9th most-played game in the country. Sheesh. “To become the most successful launch in Korea for over three years is an incredible achievement,” said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios.
“This milestone wouldn’t have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our publishing partner, Hanbitsoft, and our dedicated community in Korea.”
Wow, that Hanbitsoft must have the most magical marketing team ever! Hit the jump for the press release, which actually contains the words ‘Hellgate”, ‘Successful’, and ‘Launch’, all in the same spot.
Flagship Studios has announced a new patch for Hellgate: London. Patch 1.2 contains a bunch of new features and improvements to the game. Most notabe is the addition of an in-game mail system hat will allow players not only to communicate, but to send items to each other as well. There is also a major character class balance and upgrades to certain in-game characters. Also included is a new enemy, six new weapons, higher monster spawns in certain areas and “pets with abilities”.
All the gory details of the patch can be found on the Hellgate:London forums.
Sumea caught up with Flagship Studios’ David Glenn at last year’s Game Connect event down in Melbourne. Instead of staring at him like some sort of Egyptian god or throwing underpants at him, an interview was requested instead.
Here’s what Glenn had to say about starting up shop after the core team parted ways with Blizzard:
We only had nine of us. So our whole goal that first year was just to put together the basic foundation of the game and start the company and find a publisher and all that, so it really helped us in negotiations, because we didn’t need anybody’s money right away, we could work, and create the game we wanted to create and shop it around.
There’s the secret to success folks. Work for a really big games developer, make lots of money, then decide to start your own studio. It’s so simple! Sumea Interviews David Glenn, Art Director with Flagship Studios [Sumea]
The nether regions of Hellgate: London are expanding. Hellgate creators Flagship Studios announced yesterday that they would be adding new content to the game as of Jan. 21. The expansion is known as The Stonehenge Chronicles and will add outdoor areas to the game’s rotting city locales. It contains three new sections entitled The Caste Caves, Moloch’s Lair and The Wild that will enable players to earn some new items and unlock new dungeon scenarios. Also included are a PvP area, upgraded UI and the ability to pay for your subscription via PayPal and PaybyCash. More hell is good hell!
Hellgate London To Get First Content Update [Gamasutra]
Holy crap our Hellgate: London contest was way too close to call! Finalist 2 and Finalist 4 ran neck and neck. Here’s our solution: We’re giving both copies of Hellgate: London. The other finalists must be satisfied with INTERNET FAME — however ephemeral it is. We’re not going to do this every contest, so do not ask.
Congrats to our dual winners and much love to everyone else who entered! Finalist 2 and Finalist 4 shoot tips an email with your address so we can get your prizes to you.
When I first played Hellgate: London during the late stages of beta, I was somewhat less than impressed. I loved the concept and the graphical style, but the gameplay seemed kind of empty and hollow to me for some reason. Then one day will wandering through a local bookstore I picked up a copy of Hellgate: London Exodus, the first in a series of game-based novels by Author Mel Odom, whose name I recognised from several books in the Shadowrun series years ago. The story chronicles the early days of London’s invasion, following templar Simon Cross as he seeks to avenge his father’s death at the hands of demons that he once refused to believe in and the rise of the sorcerous Cabalists to power.
Ahoy! You’ve got just one more day to enter our Show-Us-Hell-Win-Hellgate: London contest. Just look at Shawn’s entry:
So sitting at work I realised I hadn’t entered the “Hellgate” contest. All I had was some staples, a laser mouse, and some paper. Here’s the results…
Creepy! Here’s the contest: Show us the word “Hell” on something – anything, but just don’t write it. Take a picture of it and send it to kotakucontestATkotakuDOTcom. Remember: You’re not just playing for a copy of Hellgate: London but the proverbial INTERNET FAME. Good luck!
Hellgate: London [Official Site]
More hell! For our Show-Us-Hell-Win-Hellgate: London contest, reader Nasser writes:
..in Norway actually….
I live in Norway too..
here is a link on google maps
The first picture is in hell.. The second leads straight to hell :)
Have a nice day :)
Thanks :) That second picture is after the jump. Here’s the contest: Show us the word “Hell” on something — anything, but just don’t write it. Take a picture of it and send it to kotakucontestATkotakuDOTcom. Remember: You’re not just playing for a copy of Hellgate: London but the proverbial INTERNET FAME. Good luck!
