Hellgate: London has already seen a roller coaster of activity over its lifespan.  From a mediocre release, to a buggy at best game experience this title has had it rough.  Fast forward to a sinking Flagship Studios with employees leaving “in droves”, and leaving Hellgate: London up in the air.  Move a bit further along the timeline, and you arrive at Hellgate: London’s newest lease on life: free-to-play.

Back in October, we covered Namco Bandai stepping in keeping the Hellgate: London servers up and running until January 31st (this coming Saturday).  Although that date still remains solid for some parts of the globe, according to a press release by Korean publisher HanbitSoft Hellgate: London shall remain open and up and running; in a free-to-play format.

And now for a game of ‘he said/she said’.  Namco-Bandai, who co-published the game alongside EA, is sticking to their guns about Hellgate: London going dark as of the 31st.  Fine and dandy.  Enter stage left Hanbitsoft, which claims they now own the IP, engines and source code, acquired during the demise of Flagship Studios, and therefore have the rights to the game globally.  Previously, HanbitSoft was responsible for Korean operations of the game.

Following this saga hasn’t exactly been easy, but personally, I’ve been rooting for Hellgate: London to go free-to-play for a while now.  It simply makes sense, as there’s clearly an audience out there still involved with the game, and given it’s tumultuous history, chances are that a subscription model just isn’t going to cut it.  So why not make everyone happy all at the same time?  Open Hellgate: London as a free-to-play, monetize it via microtransactions, and continue development.

It looks like Hellgate: London is taking this very path.  HanbitSoft’s official press release indicates that further development and updates are in the works with core gameplay staying the same, but improvements on “strengthening community features”.  To accomplish this, the next large-scale patch, scheduled for “soon” will “combine the two game play modes, unifying the split two communities into one.”

What is unclear is exactly where Hellgate: London will be available.  The press release is written in English, clearly targeting North American players, but due to the Flagship Studios situation, it’s still up in the air as to who can and can not operate the game, and where.

Related articles

• HanbitSoft To Continue Hellgate: London – No Really [Raising Hell]
• Hellgate: London staying open as free-to-play
• Hellgate: London Slamming Shut On January 31st [Hellgate]
• Wave goodbye: Hellgate: London servers shutting down in February
• Namco closing Hellgate on Jan. 31
• Hellgate To Relaunch? Flying Pigs Not Pictured [Hellgate]