Namco closing Hellgate on Jan. 31
by Randy Nelson 
{ Oct 24th 2008 at 5:14PM }
Namco Bandai has issued a statement saying that, come Jan. 31, the servers for Flagship Studios' stillborn online RPG, Hellgate: London, will, like its developer, disappear forever. In effect, Namco will be closing the gate door on one of the more disappointing launches in role-playing history.
In what the company calls a "gesture of support," those wishing to continue playing the game online until the lights come on and the bouncers shoo them out on Feb. 1 will be able to do so on the house.
In what the company calls a "gesture of support," those wishing to continue playing the game online until the lights come on and the bouncers shoo them out on Feb. 1 will be able to do so on the house.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
milestailsprowe @ Oct 24th 2008 5:21PM
A crappy game shutting down will not be missed
A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Oct 25th 2008 11:46AM
Don't be too callous; this was worked on, i'm sure feverishly at times, by people who had the best intentions as far as the end product was concerned. If they had the kind of money Blizzard's wading through they might have had time to deliver a better product.
theturtle363 @ Oct 25th 2008 2:20PM
just because it might have been good doesnt mean it was
mr bean @ Oct 24th 2008 5:23PM
Hard to believe.....I'd want that game just for the beautiful art work alone!
Po Panda @ Oct 24th 2008 5:22PM
I never read much into it, but from everything I saw, and how it's shown on the display shelves in the store, I got the impression it was a stand alone game anyway.
Oh well, chalk one up to advertising/marketing here.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 24th 2008 5:25PM
It could have been a great game had it not had more bugs than daggerfall. And if level design wasn't so monotonous. (Yes, I know they were randomized levels. They just all looked the same.)
I enjoyed it when it worked. Too bad the first patch broke it.
eldee @ Oct 24th 2008 5:31PM
this has got to be a new record..
the game came out what- less than a year ago? So much hype.. so much disappointment.
Kevin949 @ Oct 24th 2008 5:32PM
I never had any problems with this game, on both XP and vista on any patch. I found it to be rather fun and diablo-esque. To Po Panda, it IS a standalone game with multiplayer aspects, like diablo. I just don't get where all the hate for the game comes from. Sure it was probably buggy for some but hell, lots of games are on PC's. Oh well, at least this means the price on it will drop even more pretty soon here.
eldee @ Oct 24th 2008 9:09PM
yeah but what are you gonna do with the disc? No MP servers = no game.
Kevin949 @ Oct 25th 2008 12:25AM
there IS a single player game in there, ya know.
eldee @ Oct 26th 2008 6:41PM
yeah there's a single player mode in alot of online games.. Unreal Tournament 3 for example. But they're just bullet points and generally shitty.
Dr. @ Oct 24th 2008 5:34PM
Was this the one that you could buy a 'lifetime' membership to? Ouch?
UncleCheeto @ Oct 24th 2008 5:44PM
Well the graphics were hideous, character design was crappy...and it just wasn't fun. So I'm definitely glad it's gone but too bad it didn't live up to the hype...it could have been cool.
Rollins @ Oct 24th 2008 5:50PM
Makes me wonder why Namco bothered snatching it up when Flagship sunk. Thought they had some sort of idea to make it profitable. Guess I was wrong.
Sora @ Oct 24th 2008 5:57PM
Maybe it was competing with a current project that they were working on, so they snatched it up to close it down. Either that, or they know a crappy game (No offense to the fans of it, it DOES look quite fun) when they see one and got it just to shut it down to save people from it.
Mr Khan @ Oct 24th 2008 6:25PM
A relatively short run, huh?
Courtney @ Oct 24th 2008 6:39PM
It would be kind of funny if on the last day, Namco flooded the world with invulnerable monsters, thus ending the game with the collapse of the resistance to the hell spawn.
Okay, for people who play the game, that might not be funny. But I would laugh.
AwesomeTown @ Oct 24th 2008 7:09PM
Did they seriously use the term "gesture of support"?
Anyway, I always thought this looked fun until I heard about the disappointment. Anyway, to anyone who played it, is it even worth picking up if I stumble upon it in a bargain bin for maybe $10 without any online support?
AwesomeTown @ Oct 24th 2008 7:09PM
Anyway, I didn't realize I used anyway twice in a row. Anyway.
Rollins @ Oct 24th 2008 8:34PM
$5 maybe. Possibly $10 if someone cares enough to hack together a private server.
Mike @ Oct 25th 2008 8:36AM
I liked this game a lot, it could've been touched up in a couple places to make it better.
A faster nav system for one.
This was an FPS Diablo 2 close, and I liked it. One drawback was the system requirements though.
Jerk Face @ Oct 24th 2008 8:05PM
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
...oooobody cares!
sinai @ Oct 25th 2008 12:22AM
noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
... ooobody laughed.
Bowser the Baptist @ Oct 25th 2008 5:58AM
I lulled.
Thranx @ Oct 24th 2008 10:50PM
As an RPG it was fun. As an MMO it failed. They need to allow home run server and some kind of server browser patch.
offday @ Oct 24th 2008 11:11PM
Holy crap. It was a MMO?
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Oct 24th 2008 10:52PM
It'd be nice if people could host it on private servers.
Thranx @ Oct 24th 2008 10:52PM
Don't believe so. Lord of the Rings Online sold one, but that's more of a true MMO instead of the instanced/persistant hybrid that Hellgate is/was (think Guild Wars for the Hellgate Mechanics)
Amirisme @ Oct 25th 2008 12:05AM
NO! I just bought mine yesterday!
PhoenixP3K @ Oct 25th 2008 12:53AM
I remember the trailers for this game looked so cool. Got inside the beta and found it really dissapointing.
But this isn't fair for those who bought the game and liked it. They won't be able to play?
Brian @ Oct 25th 2008 2:12AM
It would be nice if they released software allowing fan sites to host their own servers, should the desire still exist. That way the game can continue for those willing to keep it alive.
drkliter @ Oct 25th 2008 1:30PM
What will happen to those that have a Lifetime membership?!?
cortana @ Oct 27th 2008 12:05PM
we're probably screwed. Though if Namban wants to send me a copy of Idolmaster in English to make up for it, I'll certainly accept (or hell, even just make and release it)