Hellgate: Korea

Rumors have been flying around the intertubes all day about Flagship Studios, Hanbitsoft, Hellgate: London and Mythos – here’s probably the most complete recap.

What it looks like happened was that Flagship put up the rights to its intellectual property as collateral on loans for operating expenses; and when money got tight, Flagship collapsed to the point that most of its employees were laid off, and (probably not coincidentally) those rights were foreclosed on. Flagship and Hanbitsoft (the distributor of Hellgate in Korea, the area it was most popular in) are currently dueling very publically via press releases (a sure sign that more discreet negotiations have completely fallen apart).

It’s a mess, especially for the players most invested in what was promised to be something akin to a massively multiplayer Diablo.  And Mythos (the “side project” by Flagship which has consistently gotten better buzz and reviews than its er, flagship title), under heavy development by Flagship’s Seattle studio, will hopefully survive the Battle of Duelling Legal Press Releases.