Speaking on the demise of Flagship Studios, CEO and founder Bill Roper attributed the closing, in part, to lackluster performance of the action-RPG Hellgate: London (PC), which he admits was "not great."

"The Hellgate game came out, and it wasn't great," Roper told 1UP. "We also had a lot of players who enjoyed the game. And it's not like the game didn't sell at all. But it should have been a lot better. We really take responsibility for not being better. But we can just sit around saying that really sucked, or we can do something about it, and so we were working really hard."

Roper added that he felt like the studio was "on that verge of turning a corner," and further noted a number of reasons for the game's poor performance... Read more

Though Flagship Studios CEO Bill Roper previously stated that the Hellgate: London and Mythos developer was not shutting down despite having laid off most of its staff, ex-COO Max Schaefer has revealed that it is only open to take care of "final affairs."

"It's barely open," Schaefer explained to GameCyte. "It's just open enough to take care of the final affairs, but for all intents and purposes it's closed down."

Left, Hellgate: London. Right, Mythos.

"We don't exactly know the proper way to close down a company," added former Mythos executive producer Travis Baldree. "We're just trying to take care of the debts and the employees in an orderly fashion, so Bill [Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios] and one or two other people have stuck around and are doing their best to get that done."

Schaefer, Baldree and the rest of the Mythos development team has since reformed under a new company, Runic Games, which hopes to continue creating action-RPGs.

However, Badlree is fairly confident that Runic will not be able to resume development on the action-RPG Mythos, which is now in the hands of another company.

"We're proceeding under the assumption that we're not going to... Read more

Following significant layoffs at Flagship Studios, new job listings posted by Korean publisher T3 Entertainment seem to indicate that the company has picked up Flagship's Hellgate: London and Mythos properties, Gamasutra reports.

"T3 Entertainment is searching for creative minds to passionately continue development of Hellgate: London and Mythos, along with other new games, which are being published by HanbitSoft Inc," the job posting reads. The listing further notes that the publisher is staffing up a newly opened studio in San Francisco, California.

According to the report, T3 Entertainment recently acquired a controlling stake in Hellgate's Korean publisher HanbitSoft, which claimed rights to... Read more

With the fate of Hellgate: London (PC) uncertain following significant layoffs at developer Flagship and the halting of the game's subscription service, publisher Namco Bandai appears to be stepping in to continue support of the online action-RPG

"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," Namco Bandai senior business development director Zack Karlsson wrote on the game's official forum.

"Many things are in flux and we don't have all the information yet," he continued, asking for "patience as we try to figure it all out and chart a new course" and stressing that "in the short term, please do not worry."

Namco Bandai was originally slated to publish the game in North America. However, as the game's release neared, publisher EA handled most of the title's promotion for Namco, with the logos of both companies appearing on the game's cover.

The recent happenings at Flagship Studios have been mired by... Read more

Flagship Studios today denied recent stories that is has closed, saying that it is still in business - though it did have to lay off most of its employees.

In a statement, CEO Bill Roper had this to say, "It is with deep regret that I must announce that Flagship Studios has laid off most employees. However, the core management and founding team members are still at Flagship. The past five years have been an incredible experience for us, but unfortunately, we couldn't sustain the size of the company any longer."

The company also notes that it still owns the rights to Hellgate: London and Mythos, something that is being disputed by Korean partner and investor HanbitSoft.

Because of its current situation, Flagship will no longer bill Hellgate: London players, nor will it take on any new subscribers for the game. No update was offered on the status of Mythos.

Update: Flagship community manager Taylor Balbi has denied Voodoo Extreme's report that he confirmed the studio's closure.

"I didn't say this at all, and I have never spoken to [Andrew Burnes at Voodoo Extreme] or recall ever speaking to [Andrew Burnes at Voodoo Extreme] about anything ever," Balbi wrote on the company's forums. "I'm sorry, but this news article is just not from me."

Meanwhile, multiple Flagship staff members--including Guy Somberg, Patrick Harris, Amol Deshpande, Chris Schillinger, Jesse Jones and Ray Li--have updated their LinkedIn accounts to show they are no longer with the company.

In curious related news, Hellgate: London subscribers have been unable to cancel their subscriptions for the past day, according to Flaggshipped.

Original Story: Following up on word of significant layoffs at Hellgate: London (PC) developer Flagship Studios, multiple reports are now circulating that the studio has shut down and all employees have been let go.

Left, Hellgate: London. Right, Mythos.

A Kotaku report on the studo's closure cites an anonymous source, while Voodoo Extreme sources Flagship community manager Taylor Balbi. Balbi apparently claimed that three of the studio's executives used their personal funds to provide employees with 30 days of pay.

Formed by the ex-Blizzard North staff responsible for the acclaimed Diablo series, Flagship released its first title, the action-RPG Hellgate: London, last fall... Read more

Hellgate: London (PC) developer Flagship Studios has seen layoffs of a significant portion of its staff, going by details from a Gamasutra report citing sources within the company.

Flagship did not offer further details concerning the staff cuts, but stated that there was some truth to the reports.

The news follows statements issued by the company last month in which Flagship CVO David Brevik dismissed rumors of widespread staff departures after the poor reception of the PC action RPG, adding that the company "believe[s] in the future of Hellgate."

More possible evidence of turbulence within the struggling studio comes from Korean news website TheGames.co.kr translated by fansite Hellgate Guru... Read more

Responding to rumors of widespread staff departures, Hellgate: London (PC) developer Flagship Studios said that the company is fully staffed and at work on several upcoming projects.

Flagship CVO David Brevik dismissed the rumors as exaggerated and inaccurate, noting that the company currently employs over 100 workers at its two studios, and has seen less than 10% turn-over in its workforce.

"As is typical in the industry, after a game is released some people naturally want to work on something else and they leave the company to do so," Brevik said in a statement posted on the Hellgate forums.

Reports of a staff exodus stemmed from a blog post written by Flagship programmer Guy Somberg, who claimed that members of the staff were leaving "in droves" after the poor reception of Hellgate: London. Brevik acknowledged the game's ... Read more

A new singleplayer patch is now available for Hellgate: London, updating Flagship Studios' action RPG to version 1.2. The 185mb download offers a massive amount of bug fixes and balancing changes as well as UI updates and graphic related enhancements. Click through for the full change notes ... Read more

The recent Korean arrival of Hellgate: London (PC) was reportedly "the most successful online video game launch in Korea of the past three years," developer Flagship Studios claimed today.

According to the company, the Korean multiplayer beta had over one million accounts within two weeks of its January 15 debut. That helped the title to become the ninth most played online game and most popular online beta in PC Cafes.

Leading up to the game's February 22 arrival at Korean retailers, it "achieved record sales in its first week of presales." Curiously, further details on the game's retail performance were not provided.

Released in North America last Halloween, the online and offline action-RPG was praised for its Diablo-esque gameplay but lambasted for its many server issues and bugs. The game's stability and overall level of polish are said to have... Read more

Flagship Studios, creators of Mythos (PC) and Hellgate: London (PC), announced today that it has secured financing with Texas-based Comerica Bank to support the continuing development of its franchises.

Comerica Bank stated that it is using an independent film financing model as the basis for a multi-million dollar financing package, which is backed by the sale and distribution rights for Hellgate: London.

"By following a model similar to independent film financing, we are able to directly finance ongoing content for our online games without relying upon a publisher's investment," said Flagship business development director Steve Goldstein.

He added, "As the PC game business makes the transition from the boxed retail model to the online model, alternative financing will become a cornerstone of expanding the industry."

Fresh assets were today released by developer Flagship alongside the just-released Hellgate: London Stonehenge Chronicles content expansion.

The content update adds the central hub of Stonehenge, along with several dungeons and other upgrades for paying subscribers to the action-MMO.

Check out these new screenshots, a bunch of artwork, and the full trailer, which you can view below.

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Following reports of serious issues plaguing Hellgate: London subscribers, such as multiple mistaken credit charges and the inability to access membership content, developer Flagship Studios has responded to the matter.

"We've contacted every single one of [the affected users] to work out the problem," said Flagship's Ivan Sulic to Shacknews. "We should be sailing a lot smoother from here on out."

Hellgate senior community manager Kaiser Hwang issued a statement on the official forums further explaining the situation.

"After burning several drums of midnight oil, we have resolved all current billing issues with our payment processing partners," wrote Hwang. "We've completed our payment reconciliation process and players that were incorrectly billed will see... Read more

Following activation of the service after a lengthy post-launch downtime, many subscribers to Flagship Studios' optional Hellgate: London membership program are reporting massive problems with the system, including mistaken credit charges and unavailable access to promised content.

Most alarming among the issues, many users claim they have been charged the monthly $9.99 subscription fee multiple times within the span of a few days.

"I could sum this up as the worst online gaming experience I have ever had," Shacknews reader Tyro described to us. "I applied for a monthly subscription. I then noticed I was charged two times on 11/03 $9.99, one time on 11/04 $9.99, and one time on 11/05 $9.99."

Other users have only been billed once, but find themselves unable to use the service they've paid for.

"I checked the account pages on both web sites," wrote Mayella_EU in the support thread. "It doesn't show I have a subscription. Yet my credit card was... Read more

Flagship's launch of Hellgate: London (PC) was hampered by downed servers, downed forums, and the inability of gamers to make use of the title's subscription membership service for extended functionality. The servers for the game and the website got back up and running fairly quickly, and as of yesterday, the subscription service has become available as well.

Gamers will need a credit card to purchase a $9.95 per month membership, as the specifics of PayPal payments are still being worked out. The post on the Hellgate website warns beta users not to make a new account when subscribing, as their pre-order and bonus content will be tied to their beta account.

Hellgate's subscription membership grants purchasers access to a "Hardcore" mode, "elite" items, extra character slots and item storage, and the ability to form guilds among other perks. According to a separate post on the Hellgate website by Flagship CEO Bill Roper, the window for buying the $149.99 founder's offer extended to pre-orderers of the game will be lengthened in light of the game's payment issues.

For more on what to expect as a subscriber of Hellgate: London, check out Shacknews editor-in-chief Chris Remo's fireside chat with Roper.

Flagship's riff on Diablo is finally out. Is it a well-rounded evolution of that formula, or a devolution that needs a few more months? Check out our full review to find out.

Luckily for Flagship, when it comes to persistent online games--which Hellgate qualifies as, despite also containing a separate offline mode--"patch" isn't always a dirty word. Bug fixes, interface overhauls, system tweaks, and content expansions could be the shot to the heart it needs in order to live up to its potential. Down the road, the company's first major effort could very well turn into the flagship title it was meant to be. But it will be one rocky road in the meantime. Read more...

The Halloween release of Flagship Studio's RPG Hellgate: London isn't going as smoothly as it could be, with news coming that the optional subscription service remains offline as the game is being put up on store shelves.

"Subscriptions are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues," reads a post to the official Hellgate website. "You are still able to create accounts and all players will be able to subscribe as soon as this is resolved. For users who have had difficulties subscribing, we are investigating these issues and will attempt to resolve them as soon as possible."

Most subscription bonuses are long-term perks, but the game's "Hardcore" mode, "elite" items, guild-creation ability, and extra character slots will be unavailable for would-be subscribers in the meantime.

Hellgate: London is promised to be regularly updated after its release, to offer worthwhile exclusive content for those who opt into its $9.95 subscription fee, and to still be a fully-featured online experience for those who do not. It's a tall order. How does developer Flagship Studios plan to pull it off?

In the final days before the game's October 31 release, I met with Flagship Studios' Bill Roper to discuss just that. Roper briefed me on the immediate Halloween content and the seasonal content that will immediately follow, the first major content expansion for subscribers coming in December, plans for other near-future additions, responses to criticisms of the beta, the possibility of a full retail expansion, and the team's attitude towards incorporating fan feedback.

I shared with Roper one of the chief criticisms of Hellgate: London's beta phase, the overly repetitive nature of the environments. He was aware of the concerns, and in fact had a rebuttal to those holding them. "We have as many, if not a few more, locations than in Diablo II," he said, but pointed out that they are not separated in the same hard-edged "act" structure of that game. He also noted that beta players have still yet to see the fourth and fifth acts, present in the shipping game but not the beta, which he describes as wildly different from the first three.

Still, in an attempt to ameliorate those complaints, Flagship has readjusted the environment flow, grouping environments more according to their theme, and hopefully providing an experience that feels better separated into discrete acts. This tweak will be enabled once Patch 0 goes live and the game is officially launched. Read more...

While Flagship Studio's new online RPG Hellgate: London is currently missing a few significant social features, developers are apparently working to add new functionality on the day of release and beyond.

"Grouping is indeed receiving special attention," said Flagship's Ivan Sulic to Shacknews. "We've recently added a tighter buddy system, chat system, and guild system. We're also working on ladders, more guild options, and more grouping options for our first major patch."

The game will be launching with a "Patch 0" which Flagship hopes will lift the current build of the game further up to fans' expectations.

"The goal is to focus very heavily on our multiplayer systems... Read more

Update: Flagship community manager Kaiser has chimed in on the matter, explaining EA Store's listing of an early launch as an error.

"This is actually an error and not true in any way," Kaiser wrote on the Hellgate beta forums. "Sorry!"

However, those looking to level up early are still in luck, as beta participants will be able to access the retail servers a few days before the game officially releases.

Original Story: Reports are coming in claiming that those who preorder Flagship Studio's Hellgate: London from the official Electronic Arts store will be able to start playing the online RPG a full week early, beginning tomorrow.

EA's Hellgate store page currently lists the game as pre-releasing for digital download on Wednesday Oct 24, at 12:00:00 CDT.

All Hellgate beta testers--which includes all preorder customers from... Read more