Following news that
Hellgate: London developer Flagship Studios have been forced to make
significant staff cuts, CEO Bill Roper has issued a statement indicating that the company is still active and still in control of all its technology and intellectual properties.
With reports suggesting that the majority of development staff at both Flagship and online services subsidiary Ping0 had been made redundant the company has faced additional problems over the rights to both
Hellgate and uncompleted massively multiplayer online game
Mythos.
"It is with deep regret that I must announce that Flagship Studios has laid off most employees. However, the core management and founding team members are still at Flagship,"
said Roper in a statement passed to consumer website Voodoo Extreme. "The past five years have been an incredible experience for us, but unfortunately, we couldn't sustain the size of the company any longer."
Korean publisher HanbitSoft had claimed that it now owns the intellectual property rights to
Mythos, and that
recently announced fellow Flagship investor Comerica owns the rights to
Hellgate. However the new statement from Flagship refutes these claims.
“Flagship Studios owns the rights to all its technology and IP, including
Hellgate: London and
Mythos,” claims Roper. “Due to the current situation, Flagship will not be taking any new subscribers for
Hellgate: London, and all current subscriptions will not be billed."
