Hellgate: London Shutting Down in US Despite Upcoming Expansion

Despite the best efforts of Korean publisher HanbitSoft to save the now-defunct Flagship Studios' Hellgate: London (PC), Western rights holder Namco Bandai has put the kibosh on plans to bring HanbitSoft's upcoming expansion over to the United States.

Namco community manager Diane Migliaccio was spotted by Gamasutra as clarifying reports that HanbitSoft now owned the rights to the game. "Hanbit owns the IP and rights to publish anywhere other then the US and EU ... NAMCO owns the rights to publish in the US and EU," wrote Migliaccio on the official Hellgate: London forums.

The expansion, oddly enough, is in the works inside the United States. HanbitSoft majority shareholder T3 Entertainment is using its new U.S. studio to develop the update which "surpass[es] The Abyss Chronicles" from earlier this year.

In the meantime, Namco Bandai is sticking by its decision to shut it all down in its own territories after January 31, 2009. "The servers will never exist in the US and EU again. Hanbit aka Redbanana can not have servers in the US or EU," wrote Migliaccio.