If HanbitSoft is right

Jan 28, 2009 07:39 GMT  ·  By

Hellgate: London, the ill-fated MMO set to have its servers closed on January 31 because of its abysmal performance, could have a chance at redemption as it might continue as a free to play multiplayer game under the guidance of its publisher in Korea, HanbitSoft.

Namco Bandai, as the publisher of the MMO on the Western market, said that the servers would be stopped on the date announced earlier in 2008. EA Partners, who is the co-publisher, is not saying anything related to the subject.

But HanbitSoft has stated that it has the rights to use the intellectual property, the game engine and the source code from the now defunct Flagship Studios. Using these assets, the company wants to re-launch Hellgate: London as a free to play title that will be maintained through micro transactions and advertising.

It's not clear how HanbitSoft can do this, as it seems to only have the publishing rights for the Korean market, which means that its re-imagined Hellgate could only be played there. A press statement from the Korean company lists “strengthening community features” as the main aim of all future updates.

HanbitSoft has added that “In the upcoming update, HanbitSoft plans to combine the two game play modes, unifying the split two communities into one. Also planned are class balance improvements and differentiation of each of the 5 acts.” No dates have been announced for all the changes listed above.

The free to play MMO model is very popular in the Eastern markets, where players are more interested in only spending a few dollars for a piece of equipment or for a new area, rather than shelling out a constant sum each month. The model has never caught on the Western markets, even though there are more and more online multiplayer games adopting it.