Frogster Reviving Flagship's Mythos In Europe

Berlin-based online games company Frogster announced that it will publish Mythos, the action MMORPG cancelled by now-defunct Flagship Studios and resurrected by HanbitSoft, in Europe with a free-to-play model. Mythos was initially a project from Hellgate developer Flagship Studios, but that company closed in 2008, and the team members that worked on the instanced-dungeon MMO went on to form Runic Games and release Torchlight -- a single-player dungeon crawling title said to have some influence from Mythos' original vision. Korean publisher HanbitSoft received the rights to the game and announced in May 2009 that it would continue developing the license at its parent company T3 Entertainment with support from fellow subsidiary Redbana. Since then, the company has "remoulded" the game with a free-to-play payment model. Frogster says Mythos keeps the "essence of its gameplay", inviting players to hunt down monsters in dungeons in typical hack and slash fashion, exploring either on their own or in groups, and finding rare loot. The European publisher says it's working with HanbitSoft to add new content and features without altering the MMORPG's gaming principles. The firm also points out that it will release the game in five languages, including German, English, and Turkish -- the last language symbolizing Frogster's entry into the Turkish market. HanbitSoft hasn't yet announced a release date or closed/open beta timeline for Mythos in North America. “The premature dropping of Mythos before its release was a real loss for the genre," says Frogster Online Gaming's CEO Andreas Weidenhaupt. "That’s why we’re really pleased to finally bring the game to Europe. We’re not just going to meet the expectations of the game’s fans - we’re going to surpass them!"