Game Over: Flagship Studios Close

[Jedi_Learner]

http://hellgateguru.com/2008/07/flagship-no-longer-owns-hellgate-london

In breaking news, Korean news website TheGames.co.kr reports that HanbitSoft is taking full control over the Hellgate: London intellectual property from Flagship Studios. At present, HanbitSoft co-owns the IP, which was developed by Flagship Studios and published by Electronic Arts in Europe and the United States.

This with the recent layoffs at Flagship Studios, is this the end?

 

[Raapys]

Hope so actually, stupid developers. Seperate singleplayer/multiplayer patches, very disappointing game in general, no lan play, etc., etc.

Article has been updated.

However, Flagship has officially responded: "This story is an outright lie. We have no idea where they are getting their information from and have asked legal counsel to pursue the issue... We are mystified by Hanbitsoft’s conclusions and any attempt to take over the IP will be met with a strong and swift response."

 

[Herbert West]

I hope this game will go down with the ship :wink:

 

[Zakhal]

It wasnt half-bad mmog-lite shooter atleast in beta. Im waiting for the 2.0 patch before starting the game.

 

[shihonage]

Meh nevermind.

 

[Chefe]

Hellgate London was released? When did this happen?

 

[aboyd]

Aren't these the guys doing Mythos? I'm more interested in that than in Hellgate.

 

[sportforredneck]

Hellgate London was released? When did this happen?

There's a game called Hellgate London? When did this happen?

 

[shihonage]

Mythos is made by the developer of FATE, a Diablo clone. As I understand, Flagship merely developed the server backend for Mythos' Battle.Net like system.

 

[DemonKing]

Well I feel sorry for the employees but when you release something as bland and awful as Hellgate London *and* expect people to pony up for a monthly subscription you deserve to go out of business.

They shan't be missed.

Bet Bill Roper is glad he left Blizzard now...well, maybe they'll need a peon voice for WC4.

 

[Balor]

Well, that's a bit of a Codex hypocrisy here, because the most 'sucking' part was the graphics.
However, it did suck pretty hard, and what's worse, it was ANIMATIONS that sucked.
See WoW to understand that you can have characters with as many polygons as lego toys, and yet look more then ok.
Extremely repeative levels didn't help either. And story, that looked like it was written by a 5-year old.
Ok, perhaps there is no hypocrisy at all .

 

[aboyd]

Article has been updated.

Flagship has officially responded: "We are mystified by Hanbitsoft’s conclusions and any attempt to take over the IP will be met with a strong and swift response."

Hmm. This is actually an interesting fight. The story has been updated again with a reply to the reply. Hanbitsoft kinda owns them, almost literally:

(1) HanbitSoft is an exclusive licensee of both Hellgate and Mythos in Asia, with rights to sublicense the games; (2) in addition, HanbitSoft is a secured creditor who has been pledged the Mythos (but not the Hellgate) intellectual property as collateral for a loan; (3) Comerica, another secured lender, has been pledged the Hellgate intellectual property as its collateral for a loan; (4) Flagship Studios does not currently own the intellectual properties to either game, which are held in separate companies subject to the security interests of lenders, and Flagship Studios’ interest in those companies is also pledged to its lenders

So to boil this down to the basics, Flagship growled, and HanbitSoft yanked the chain, "Heel, dog!"

 

[Jedi_Learner]

Game Over for Flagship Studios

In summary, Flagship's well is dry, all intellectual property has been lost, all staff fired, and the studio closed. It truly is the end of the line.

 

[Texas Red]

Great news. Hellgate was an affront to humankind.

 

[Korgan]

Great news. Hellgate was an affront to humankind.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

Haha, remember there was a 150 dollar or so Superduper collectors edition which contained a lifetime subscription for the Hellgate online service. Tough luck for those who bought it, I guess

 

[MetalCraze]

It's good to see that PC market even now doesn't forgive shitty games compared to the trash-bin that is console market.

 

[racofer]

It's good to see that PC market even now doesn't forgive shitty games compared to the trash-bin that is console market.

Too bad this still doesn't apply to Bethesda's shit.

 

[Balor]

So, the Flagship finally sunk. Serves them right for being so 'holeyer then thou'.

 

[Balor]

Oh, and in before "Pirates are to blame!!1" announcement!

 

[Burning Bridges]

These people deserve absolutely no sympathy.

 

[Hory]

NO MORE FREE RIDES

 

[Vault Dweller]

Well, Andrew I don't want to tell you how to do your job at VE3D, but normally you check the quotes before making them appear as fact. I didn't say this at all, and I have never spoken to you or recall ever speaking to you about anything ever. I'm sorry, but this news article is just not from me.

Teh plot thickens.

 

[Raapys]

Strange though, I seem to remember reading the game had like 1million subscribers or something over in Asia.

 

[Dolar]

In Asia where they pay by the hour in Internet cafes, I don't think they made a lot of money on it. Plus there is the Asian developer, the licensing fees, the cafes cut ect ect. For a game that took that long to make, and that much money went into, a million subscribers in Asia is not going to sustain them.