In a letter addressed to fans of Flagship Studios, CEO Bill Roper confirms reports of an optional subscription model for the studio's upcoming Hellgate: London and also outlines the reasons behind that decision.

"Hellgate: London is completely free to play online, out of the box," the letter states. "Anyone who buys the game can not only play through the fully randomized, storyline-driven gameplay offline, but they can also go online and share that experience with millions of players from around the world...Both free players and subscribers will be playing together in groups and guilds on huge realms supporting tens of thousands of players simultaneously."

"Gamers also want choices, and we have so many great ideas for Hellgate: London, and the concept is so extendable, that we know we can keep adding to this game for a long time," Roper adds. "We want to continue moving Hellgate: London forward in some really exciting directions, and to support ongoing development we've created a subscription service to give players access to new content as we go along. This commitment to our gamers was also a part of our plans for Hellgate: London from the very beginning."

The optional subscription fee for Hellgate: London is currently set at $9.99 a month.

"In short, what subscribers are getting is new content--not simply 'better' things," he writes. "Another way of thinking of this would be that we're delivering smaller expansions over time rather than having players wait a year or more before they finally get something new."