Flagship Studios losing developers?

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 11th June 2008
Comments (10) Stumble
Hellgate: London wasn't well received and developer Flagship may now be feeling the pinch.

Hellgate: London wasn't well received and developer Flagship may now be feeling the pinch.

Hellgate: London was a game with a lot of hype around it and there seemed to be an expectation floating around that Hellgate: London could be the spiritual successor to Diablo II. Obviously though things didn't quite pan out like that for the game and the launch especially was savaged by critics.

So, the question is now; What will happen to developer Flagship Studios? Will the developer ironically find itself being flagshipped after the botched launch?

Well, apparently things aren't looking too good over at Flagship and in a blog post which has since been retracted Flagship's audio and gameplay manager Guy Somberg has voiced a few of his concerns and admitted that work at the studio has become depressing for many.

"Thing is, the way things are going I’m likely to be the only programmer still working on Hellgate left from the original crew. I’ve heard rumours that other programmers and artists are thinking of leaving," said Somberg even though he said he loved being a part of the Flagship team.

Games blog Kotaku had their interest piqued at this comment though and decided to reach out and get a comment from the developer. In a statement to the site Web Manager Ivan Sulic tried his best at damage control.

"We've actually had very few people leave. Flagship is still fully staffed and working on both Hellgate and Mythos... I think we have about 100 employees now."

"People finish a game, want to work on something else, and then leave to do just that. It's pretty typical in this industry. I don't know the exact number, but we couldn’t have had more than five or six departures. Still, if those five or six dudes are people you work with everyday, it can't feel great."

What did you think of Hellgate: London? Let us know in the forums.
Quote Cobalt 11th June 2008, 11:57
Hellgate was a fair game, not great but reasonably playable. I wouldn't subscribe though, it wasn't really socially engaging enough for me and I didn't feel the game lent itself to that model.

I think they offered the world and in the end it was an average game with marketing that got a little ahead of itself. Graphics were especially disappointing.
Quote Mentai 11th June 2008, 13:52
This was supposed to be my Diablo 3. Biggest disapointment of 2007, didn't bother getting it after reading the reviews and playing the demo. Average gameplay and bug ridden. Minus the bugs I would've got it but... Eh. Every Blizcon I've been wanting them to announce Diablo 3, I wonder if they ever will, WoW kinda has the addictive RPG covered in a more profitable format =/
Quote DarkLord7854 11th June 2008, 14:22
Patch 2.0 is on TC and looking VERY good, lots of new content and fixes and features added. Am quite excited for it :D
Quote sotu1 11th June 2008, 15:20
is this game free to play online or is it subscription?
Quote yakyb 11th June 2008, 15:24
^ both

shows what happens when you release too early

i havnt touched the game since i played for about 5 days after buying on Launch day
Quote DarkLord7854 11th June 2008, 17:20
It's a lot better now, and 2.0 is epic win :)
Quote willyolio 11th June 2008, 17:58
free online, subscription gives you extra features for convenience and stuff.

i honestly hoped they'd hang around long enough to make Hellgate 2, and hopefully that would be everything they promised.
Quote pendragon 11th June 2008, 18:56
I wish Bill Roper had made Diablo III ..*sigh* ah well.. best of luck to them.
Quote rollo 11th June 2008, 21:36
hellgate wasnt really good

roll on diablo 3
Quote mayakovski 12th June 2008, 00:11
The intro was fantastic, the game was lame and boring.
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