Hellgate: London Not Closing Its Doors

Hellgate: London players will be pleased to know that the game will not be shutting down in North America on January 31st as anticipated. According to Gamasutra, Korean publisher, Hanbisoft, will run its own servers and HG: L will become a 'free to play' game. Hanbisoft also indicated that updates are in the works. Check out the official word below:

Although it is slated to stop operating in the West on January 31, multiplayer online title Hellgate: London will continue on here as a free-to-play game, according to comments from Korean publisher and developer HanbitSoft.

The announcement comes in spite of a decision by Namco-Bandai, which co-published the game through an agreement with Electronic Arts' EA Partners, to terminate the game's servers.

HanbitSoft has asserted that it owns the IP, engines and source code for the Flagship Studios title worldwide, and will maintain Hellgate: London for its global community. HanbitSoft had previously been responsible for only the game's Korean operations.

The switch to a free-to-play model was the first official announcement the company has made regarding the fate of the title, which during its lifetime suffered from perceived quality issues, and an insufficient userbase, playing a key role in the closing of Flagship Studios in July 2008.

HanbitSoft also says in an official press statement seen by Gamasutra that future updates for Hellgate: London are in the works, with a focus on "strengthening community features" while maintaining the core gameplay as is.

The next "large-scale" patch, according to HanbitSoft, will be released "soon," and will combine the game's two play modes to unify its communities. The company also plans class balance improvements and further distinction between the game's five acts.

This is great new indeed. Hellgate: London had finally become a game well worth playing about the time that Flagship Studios tanked. Now maybe it will realize its potential.