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The Game Archaeologist: How Hellgate survived being Flagshipped
It seems that it really wasn't too long ago that I was filling in the time between night classes by boning up on video game news. I was drinking up all of the hot up-and-comers, such as Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, when I caught word that the maker of Diablo was trying to do the same thing again, only more online, in 3-D, and with a cool modern-day/futuristic/horror vibe. There's no better way to put it than to say that from the start, Hellgate: London looked all kinds of cool. Oh sure, you can scoff now with your perfect 20/20 hindsight, but I'm betting that more than a few of you thought the same with me around that time. Diablo but with guns and an online persistence -- how could we not be intrigued? One of my most vivid memories was being torn between the idea of buying a lifetime subscription deal for $150 (again, this was before the free-to-play era, but also before the era of us spending the same money on alpha access. I'm just saying that you can't judge me.). I didn't buy the lifetime sub, if you were wondering, but I did play. I even enjoyed Hellgate: London for a month or so, although something about it never quite clicked with me. It was only after I bailed that I watched with horror that one of the most infamous chapters of video game disasters took place. It's kind of like when you look at pictures of an earthquake and say to anyone near, "I was just standing there a week ago..." From its giddy heights of pre-launch hype to the crash simply known as being "Flagshipped" to its subsequent resurrections (yes, plural), Hellgate is a fascinating tale of a good idea, a terrible launch, corporate scapegoating, and improbable survival.
Flagship Studios confirms staff layoffs
Flagship Studios, developer of Hellgate: London and Mythos, has confirmed that it has handed out the dreaded pink slip to an undisclosed number of employees from both the development team as well as from Ping0, an online services subsidiary. While there has been no details discussing the reason for the layoffs, it's likely tied into the issues surrounding the Hellgate: London title.A statement issued by Flagship last month, meant to reassure players, read "All our Directors and Founders are still working at Flagship, and all of them are working on Hellgate: London or Mythos. The team size for Hellgate is as big now as when we shipped." That's not necessarily a positive thing -- are these Directors and Founders having to double up on duties previously performed by the now-unemployed? We'll keep an ear to the ground for more specific information as it appears.
Flagship's other MMO - Mythos nearing release
With all the buzz about Flagship Studios' upcoming game, Hellgate: London, it hasn't been difficult to forget their subsidiary studio Flagship Seattle, who are currently beta-testing their own new MMO, Mythos. Mythos, due to ship later this year, is a free-to-download, free-to-play, casual MMO which will be distributed by another Flagship subsidiary Ping0 LLC (in North America and Europe) and HanbitSoft (in Asia).
