Oh Hellgate, the saga continues. It seems as though Korean publisher HanbitSoft and Namco have come to an agreement over the contested rights to Hellgate. Hanbitsoft now plans on relaunching the MMORPG in both North America and Europe.
Hellgate: London has certainly seen better days, and you’ll remember the financial demise of creator Flagship Studios saw Hellgate’s days come to a very rapid end. Post Flagship Studios, Korean HanbitSoft, the exclusive publisher of Hellgate: London, stepped in and claimed that it intended to take over not only Hellgate, but Flagship’s other project, Mythos. After this, that, and the other, it turned out that HanbitSoft owned only the rights to Mythos, and not Hellgate.
It seems as though that scuffle has been settled, as HanbitSoft is clearly taking point on this new initiative, and plans on re-rolling out the title this year. The plan is to release Hellgate: Ressurrection (an appropriate title if I’ve ever heard one) in the Korean market as well as parts of South East Asia. Presumably, based on the success in these markets, HanbitSoft will then roll the title out to North American, European, and Japanese markets in 2011.
“We would like to thank Namco Bandai Games America for allowing us to acquire the Hellgate publishing rights and are thrilled to have eager gamers worldwide return and enjoy the franchise,” said HanbitSoft chief executive Kee-Young Kim. “Hellgate: Resurrection is heading towards success in Korea such that we decided to push ahead with launching the game overseas next year. We will do our best to get the game to the fans as soon as possible.”
Hellgate: Ressurrection also promises to be just that – a complete re-do. The new version is slated to have a completely revamped content section. Gone as well is the level cap, and HanbitSoft is already working on an expansion pack titled Hellgate: Tokyo which will be released in Korea in March. The looming question is, how much? Will HanbitSoft offer Hellgate is a subscription based title, similar to industry behemoth World of Warcraft, or, will they stay more in line with their current climate, and offer the MMORPG as a free-to-play title with microtransaction monetization methods? My bet is leaning a whole lot towards the latter.
Namco Bandai Games America senior director of business development Zack Karlsson comments, “We are pleased to participate in the revitalization of Hellgate through this agreement and are deeply gratified to allow HanbitSoft to take the lead on this franchise and bring this game to the people who seek it.”
Tags: flagship studios, HanbitSoft, Hellgate, hellgate london, MMORPG, mythos, namco bandai games
