Flagship sunk

Hot off the presses.

What is being touted as a large layoff at Flagship Studios is quite possibly the entire non-management team being told to turn in all their keys. IM's are flying fast and furiously. EA is holding a recruitment event for the "Affected".

More as I hear it!

Whoa, WHAT?!

Yeah, keep us posted Seph.

I still have hope for HGL, but this could disippate that.

Hanbit soft has apparently made a grab for the IPs of Hellgate and Flagship. This part is rumor, however.

Good Luck and remember, we're all counting on you.

Wow, if it's as bad as all that it sounds like we'll never see the next content push hit the main servers (on the other hand it also means there wouldn't be any further wipes on the test center since there wouldn't be any more patches (on the other other hand who would be maintaining these servers if the company's gone?)).

Wonder if there's any way I can recoup some of the $200 I spent before it all goes up in flames.

Hey, I thought they had a MILLION subscribers? Isn't that enough to support a little company like Flagship?

Yeah me too Lobster.

As a side note, I wonder if the founders are now going to be involved in D3? ;P

Maybe a shop with the money to support it will buy up the IP, and we can have a Vanguard-style happy ending? I mean, HG:L could be a decent game if they fixed the problems...

I hope so KingMob.

I wonder if this includes Flagship Seattle? (the folks who are working on Mythos)

Sephirotic wrote:

Hanbit soft has apparently made a grab for the IPs of Hellgate and Flagship. This part is rumor, however.

That rumour was almost violently denied by Flagship. Not that I'd expect a different response. I don't like to see peopl eout of work though so I hope this isn't true.

It seems blogs are chiming in now.

Big Download got the same info while Gamasutra got confirmation.

Gamasutra wrote:

Gamasutra has received confirmation from a Flagship Studios representative that the Hellgate: London developer has seen significant staff cuts.

This morning, Gamasutra obtained information from a source close to the company indicating that staff at both the Flagship development team as well as online services subsidiary Ping0 were let go. Both companies operate out of the same building.

Flagship declined to go into further detail about the layoffs, beyond stating that there was truth to the reports.

I hope Mythos survives this at least

Damnit. This is not what I wanted to see happen.

It sounds like they may be cutting back from active Hellgate: London development to a smaller infrastructure maintaining what's there and maybe just slowing down the content releases. I'd be surprised if Mythos was really affected, it had a great deal of promise.

Just a guess, though.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:
Sephirotic wrote:

Hanbit soft has apparently made a grab for the IPs of Hellgate and Flagship. This part is rumor, however.

That rumour was almost violently denied by Flagship. Not that I'd expect a different response. I don't like to see peopl eout of work though so I hope this isn't true.

I really hope it's not true but It's one of those things

I am really worried though because I am a lifetime subscriber and I hope I'm not screwed because of it.

Sigh I hope this is not true. Though I have enjoyed the game greatly over the past months, perhaps it is time to finally get sometime to play other games

Lothar wrote:

I am really worried though because I am a lifetime subscriber and I hope I'm not screwed because of it.

This certainly could change the customer base's opinion on something like this (and hopefully make it so it is harder for other companies to pull this kind of crap in the future). Flagship knew what game they had when they started coming out with all these ridiculous subscription options.

sheared wrote:
Lothar wrote:

I am really worried though because I am a lifetime subscriber and I hope I'm not screwed because of it.

This certainly could change the customer base's opinion on something like this (and hopefully make it so it is harder for other companies to pull this kind of crap in the future). Flagship knew what game they had when they started coming out with all these ridiculous subscription options.

You have a good point. I know I prefer lifetime subscriber models to paying monthly, but having a company shut down after less than a year in operation can make this pricing option a precarious one (although probably not so bad as paying for a few months at a time). Better established companies like Blizzard or Turbine are probably the best bets to have something like this, but I suppose it could happen to anyone.

In all fairness, its probably still too early to tell what the final fate of Hellgate will be. If by some chance it does continue on, I would hope that those that paid for the lifetime subscription don't somehow get the shaft.

This story gets weirder and weirder.
Here's Rock Paper Shotgun's summary of the story so far...

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/07/12/bloodbath-at-flagship/#more-2097

Glad I stuck to my guns about not paying their subscription fee now.

i bought HGL recently, i felt it was a pretty good game overall. I wouldn't pay monthly for it, but as a single player experience I found it enjoyable. It is a shame about the layoffs, I hope all those people land on their feet. If any of them are reading these forums, I know there are lots of opportunities in Dallas for game developers.

Certis wrote:

It sounds like they may be cutting back from active Hellgate: London development to a smaller infrastructure maintaining what's there and maybe just slowing down the content releases. I'd be surprised if Mythos was really affected, it had a great deal of promise.

Just a guess, though.

Slowing down on the content releases? There's been ONE. I know they promised one every three months but only one's been released and the other is in the test center (and probably will remain there, now).

I'm not all THAT pissed off about my lifetime subscription since I knew it was a risk when I was getting into it, though I sure would like to make some of it back somehow. I doubt anyone would buy a lifetime subscription account now though. :/ Their biggest mistake on that front was only offering it to people who pre-ordered. Clearly, every lifetime subscription they sold ended up making them more money than a customer who subscribed every month up till this point. Hopefully that will be the lesson other developers take from this when they decide whether or not to do a lifetime subscription.

Rock Paper Shotgun wrote:

So by this point things would seem to be that both HanbitSoft and Flagship are denying the IP-takeover story entirely, and with lawyers being mounted on flagpoles, but jobs were still going. Fascinatingly, the option to unsubscribe from Hellgate mysteriously disappeared from players’ account pages during this time.

OK, THAT is just unethical. When you've got people who paid for a ticket to get on your little boatride, you do not lock them inside when it starts sinking.

SexyBeast wrote:

i bought HGL recently, i felt it was a pretty good game overall. I wouldn't pay monthly for it, but as a single player experience I found it enjoyable. It is a shame about the layoffs, I hope all those people land on their feet. If any of them are reading these forums, I know there are lots of opportunities in Dallas for game developers.

Go figure. I picked up hellgate last week, and was looking forward to having a better computer to run it on, and they day I get it assembled... bah, oh well.
Seriously, I hope they all land on their feet, I know Hellgate has a lot of promise, and for something like that, there's got to be some talented developers there.

Here's hoping most of the Hellgate team gets picked up by Blizzard. Put Hellgate and Diablo together, and you've got a hell of a winner.

Edit: I suppose I should say picked back up, but still. The two games are awesome and polished in ways that would be amazingly complementary were they put together.

Whats so great about Hellgate that should be integrated into Diablo 3? I played Hellgate some but it looks like D3 has it beat, hands down, in every category that they've shown, especially fun-factor.

My favorite aspect was the item customization. After that, it was all blah.

If this is true, it's a shame. Mythos has been shaping up so nicely.

Honestly - I feel like a complete (expletive deleted) now that I never subscribed. I mean, I think there were a lot of good things about the subscription model they tried to push, and now they may not happen again, or in a similar format, because HG:L was a poorly implemented game.
(I mean, some stuff was well implemented, but overall there were too many balance / code / etc. issues to call it a well implemented piece of software)

Now, I liked Hellgate's concept and shootiness and some aspects of the item collection. But told myself - can't subscribe yet, not till they fix the issues I care about - and now those issues will never get fixed, and I'll never give them any more money.
Honestly though, it's hard for me to be happy over not subscribing - I'd much rather have a great game I'm putting money into than a failure that I didn't put too much money into - like the difference between a winning hand and a losing hand I folded on.

It's a downer when some people with good ideas fold because of poor execution. Especially since we may never know why.

Whomever takes the randomized dungeon mechanics to the next level will revolutionize FPS's. The art direction was great and the itemization and customization were awesome.

HG:L just didn't have the balanced and interesting character skills and classes to have the Diablo 2 type longevity. I mean I played it for 3 months (including a month of beta). It was a great game, just not the legendary game everyone was hoping for.

Looks fairly solid now. More on VE3D.

Flagships's Community Manager, Taylor Balbi, has revealed, through sources, that all Ping0 and Flagship Studios staff have been made redundant. Employees were notified at a company meeting and subsequently informed that the offices will be officially closed on Saturday. Balbi went on to reveal that three of the studio's top brass dug into their own pockets to provide 30 days of pay to all employees.

Word of the studio closure reached Korean distributor HanbitSoft, leading to the release of a statement regarding intellectual property control and the subsequent clarification by their American lawyers that included the following sentence: "It is unfortunate that Flagship turned down additional investments HanbitSoft offered to make that would have allowed it to keep its doors open."

As also referenced in the legal release, HanbitSoft hopes to independently continue development of Mythos, to which it owns the rights thanks to a loan agreement enacted with Flagship. Comerica now owns the Hellgate: London rights through a similar loan agreement, and will likely continue Asian development with HanbitSoft. As for English-language releases of the two games, it is possible that the Asian companies would continue development, though in the case of Hellgate: London it is unlikely (Mythos has a far better business model and is attracting extremely positive press). Alternatively, the rights may be sold to Electronic Arts or other interested parties.

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.

polypusher wrote:

Whats so great about Hellgate that should be integrated into Diablo 3? I played Hellgate some but it looks like D3 has it beat, hands down, in every category that they've shown, especially fun-factor.

My favorite aspect was the item customization. After that, it was all blah.

The item customization is a huge one, the horadric cube in D2 was impressive, but they didn't do enough with it IMO. The 3rd person shooter perspective added quite a bit, I thought. (Mouse for movement and attack doesn't usually end up well for me), especially the ability to actually _dodge_ projectiles. If it had block ala Fable, I'd be in heaven.

The *click click click* from D1+2 puts me to sleep anymore, and it's pretty fun being able to circle-strafe and slash away at a random demon.

Also, though not going to happen in diablo... it's not a freaking straightforward sword and sorcery game. I really like the concept. Sci-fi + fantasy = epic win, IMO.

I liked Hellgate's unusual setting. :/

LobsterMobster wrote:
Rock Paper Shotgun wrote:

So by this point things would seem to be that both HanbitSoft and Flagship are denying the IP-takeover story entirely, and with lawyers being mounted on flagpoles, but jobs were still going. Fascinatingly, the option to unsubscribe from Hellgate mysteriously disappeared from players’ account pages during this time.

OK, THAT is just unethical. When you've got people who paid for a ticket to get on your little boatride, you do not lock them inside when it starts sinking.

Their Billing Server is down, so no one is actually charged for anything. They didn't intentionally do this.

LobsterMobster wrote:

I liked Hellgate's unusual setting. :/

London?

Lothar wrote:

I am really worried though because I am a lifetime subscriber and I hope I'm not screwed because of it.

Me too. I will admit I haven't played it much but I would hope that my lifetime subscription actually lasts longer than a year. It's unfortunate that this is happening to the company, since they could of released Mythos as a retail release and saw some revenue from that as well to keep them afloat during HG:L concerns.