Korean publisher HanbitSoft has confirmed that it has no intention of relaunching Hellgate: London in Western markets, where the rights to the game are still held by Namco Bandai.
Hellgate: London was shut down on February 1 on this year after a short-lived and convoluted history that saw the downfall of the original developer, confusion over the game’s future and even about who actually had the rights to the IP in the first place. Soon after the demise of developer Flagship Studios, HanbitSoft stepped up and announced it had taken control of the Hellgate IP, although it later became clear that while Hanbit held the Asian publishing rights to Hellgate, Namco maintained the rights in North America and Europe. But with U.S. studio Redbana working on the game and press releases continuing to come in English, some fans continued to hold out hope for the game’s return to Western shores.
Alas, it is not to be. Janelle Ha, HanbitSoft’s global public relations manager, confirmed today that the company still does not have rights to the game outside Asia and has no intention of trying to change that situation. “I know there are many fans who are from US and Europe, who have many Hellgate inquiries,” she wrote on Game Espresso. “You guys should contact the person in charge at Namco directly, you should be able to get the answers from them.”
The answer from them, unfortunately, is a very distinct “no.”
Source: GameCyte
Published: Mar 5, 2009 01:32 am