"For all intents and purposes, everyone was flagshipped."

"I'm sure some of you are familiar with that term," said former Flagship business developer Stephen Goldstein. "For those of you who are not, the term 'flagshipped' literally has no less than five definitions in the English language."

An illustrative slide appeared on screen:

Tim: "I just bought a new table today and one of its legs broke."

Mike: "Man you got flagshipped."

Goldstein spoke at length this morning on the demise of Hellgate: London developer Flagship Studios, highlighting specific areas that he feels lead to the ugly end of a studio with tremendous promise.

"Everything we did, the entire corporate setup, was meant to swing for the fences," said Goldstein. "Everything was solely plan A. There was no plan B... Read more

Flagship Studios co-founder Phil Shenk has established a new studio titled Gravity Bear, Shenk confirmed to Shacknews. The former Blizzard developer will serve as CEO of the company.

Best known to gamers as his Diablo 2 doppelganger Shenk the Overseer (pictured left), Shenk held the position of art director on Hellgate London, and worked as a lead artist on Diablo 2 and its expansion Lord of Destruction.

Though Shenk did not detail the studio's makeup or projects, Shacknews has learned that at least one former Flagship staffer has joined the company in a prominent role: Kevin Klemmick, former senior software engineer on Hellgate London, will serve as Gravity Bear's technical director.

Shenk joins the long list of former Flagship developers that have recently moved on to new ventures. Flagship co-founder Max Schaefer and others formed Runic Games in August, and ex-Flagshippers Dave Brebik and Jeff Lind joined Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine in October. Cryptic Studios announced last month that former Flagship CEO Bill Roper was joining its ranks.

Following the failure of Flagship Studios and Hellgate: London, former Blizzard Entertainment director Bill Roper has joined Cryptic Studios, the MMO developer announced today.

Roper will serve as Design Director on Champions Online, Cryptic's new massively multiplayer online superhero title based on the Champions role playing game.

Said Cryptic Studios CEO John Needham, "Bill brings a ton of creative energy to the Cryptic office and we're thrilled to have him join our team. His years of gaming and online experience are huge assets to all of our projects, and Bill will assist us in furthering our studio's vision to create innovative, exciting MMO gameplay."

Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine has opened a new west coast studio in Redwood City, CA, to support the expansion of platforms the company supports. Along the way, the studio announced it picked up a few noteworthy recruits from the defunct Flagship Studios, developer of Hellgate: London.

"The new studio will be a vital part of Turbine's corporate vision as it brings new titles to market, expands the platforms it supports and introduces new technologies to expand and grow the communities that are the foundation of online games," reads a press release from Turbine. As all of Turbine's releases to date have been PC games, the "platforms" mentioned could imply that future Turbine titles are headed to consoles.

Among Turbine's personnel acquisitions are creative director Dave Brebik, a Blizzard North alum and former Chief Visionary Officer for Flagship, and Jeff Lind, a technology specialist who will take the role of engineering director. The studio will be headed by Matt McKnight, former CEO of Sniper Studios, whose only release is Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars (PSP).

Turbine has a long history of well-received MMO games, starting with Asheron's Call and most recently Lord of the Rings Online.

Speaking on the demise of Flagship Studios, CEO and founder Bill Roper attributed the closing, in part, to lackluster performance of the action-RPG Hellgate: London (PC), which he admits was "not great."

"The Hellgate game came out, and it wasn't great," Roper told 1UP. "We also had a lot of players who enjoyed the game. And it's not like the game didn't sell at all. But it should have been a lot better. We really take responsibility for not being better. But we can just sit around saying that really sucked, or we can do something about it, and so we were working really hard."

Roper added that he felt like the studio was "on that verge of turning a corner," and further noted a number of reasons for the game's poor performance... Read more

Though Flagship Studios CEO Bill Roper previously stated that the Hellgate: London and Mythos developer was not shutting down despite having laid off most of its staff, ex-COO Max Schaefer has revealed that it is only open to take care of "final affairs."

"It's barely open," Schaefer explained to GameCyte. "It's just open enough to take care of the final affairs, but for all intents and purposes it's closed down."

Left, Hellgate: London. Right, Mythos.

"We don't exactly know the proper way to close down a company," added former Mythos executive producer Travis Baldree. "We're just trying to take care of the debts and the employees in an orderly fashion, so Bill [Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios] and one or two other people have stuck around and are doing their best to get that done."

Schaefer, Baldree and the rest of the Mythos development team has since reformed under a new company, Runic Games, which hopes to continue creating action-RPGs.

However, Badlree is fairly confident that Runic will not be able to resume development on the action-RPG Mythos, which is now in the hands of another company.

"We're proceeding under the assumption that we're not going to... Read more

With Hellgate: London (PC) and Mythos (PC) developer Flagship Studios having laid off most of its staff and halted work on the free-to-play action-RPG Mythos, those responsible for Mythos have formed a new development company, Runic Games.

The team "intends to continue to use their expertise in the Action-RPG MMO genre to create the best games in this market," according to the press release, with more details due "in the coming days."

As with Flagship, the Runic staff involves numerous action-RPG veterans, including Fate (PC) creator and Mythos project director Travis Baldree, as well as Max Schaefer, co-founder of Diablo creator Blizzard North and Mythos executive producer.

While Flagship is essentially shut down, work on Mythos and Hellgate: London support are expected to continue through Korean publisher T3, which holds a controlling stake in former Flagship business partner HanbitSoft.

Following significant layoffs at Flagship Studios, new job listings posted by Korean publisher T3 Entertainment seem to indicate that the company has picked up Flagship's Hellgate: London and Mythos properties, Gamasutra reports.

"T3 Entertainment is searching for creative minds to passionately continue development of Hellgate: London and Mythos, along with other new games, which are being published by HanbitSoft Inc," the job posting reads. The listing further notes that the publisher is staffing up a newly opened studio in San Francisco, California.

According to the report, T3 Entertainment recently acquired a controlling stake in Hellgate's Korean publisher HanbitSoft, which claimed rights to... Read more

With the fate of Hellgate: London (PC) uncertain following significant layoffs at developer Flagship and the halting of the game's subscription service, publisher Namco Bandai appears to be stepping in to continue support of the online action-RPG

"The game is up, the servers are not going away in the short term and any major changes to status will be communicated in advance," Namco Bandai senior business development director Zack Karlsson wrote on the game's official forum.

"Many things are in flux and we don't have all the information yet," he continued, asking for "patience as we try to figure it all out and chart a new course" and stressing that "in the short term, please do not worry."

Namco Bandai was originally slated to publish the game in North America. However, as the game's release neared, publisher EA handled most of the title's promotion for Namco, with the logos of both companies appearing on the game's cover.

The recent happenings at Flagship Studios have been mired by... Read more

Flagship Studios today denied recent stories that is has closed, saying that it is still in business - though it did have to lay off most of its employees.

In a statement, CEO Bill Roper had this to say, "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. The past five years have been an incredible experience for us, but unfortunately, we couldn't sustain the size of the company any longer."

The company also notes that it still owns the rights to Hellgate: London and Mythos, something that is being disputed by Korean partner and investor HanbitSoft.

Because of its current situation, Flagship will no longer bill Hellgate: London players, nor will it take on any new subscribers for the game. No update was offered on the status of Mythos.

Update: Flagship community manager Taylor Balbi has denied Voodoo Extreme's report that he confirmed the studio's closure.

"I didn't say this at all, and I have never spoken to [Andrew Burnes at Voodoo Extreme] or recall ever speaking to [Andrew Burnes at Voodoo Extreme] about anything ever," Balbi wrote on the company's forums. "I'm sorry, but this news article is just not from me."

Meanwhile, multiple Flagship staff members--including Guy Somberg, Patrick Harris, Amol Deshpande, Chris Schillinger, Jesse Jones and Ray Li--have updated their LinkedIn accounts to show they are no longer with the company.

In curious related news, Hellgate: London subscribers have been unable to cancel their subscriptions for the past day, according to Flaggshipped.

Original Story: Following up on word of significant layoffs at Hellgate: London (PC) developer Flagship Studios, multiple reports are now circulating that the studio has shut down and all employees have been let go.

Left, Hellgate: London. Right, Mythos.

A Kotaku report on the studo's closure cites an anonymous source, while Voodoo Extreme sources Flagship community manager Taylor Balbi. Balbi apparently claimed that three of the studio's executives used their personal funds to provide employees with 30 days of pay.

Formed by the ex-Blizzard North staff responsible for the acclaimed Diablo series, Flagship released its first title, the action-RPG Hellgate: London, last fall... Read more

Hellgate: London (PC) developer Flagship Studios has seen layoffs of a significant portion of its staff, going by details from a Gamasutra report citing sources within the company.

Flagship did not offer further details concerning the staff cuts, but stated that there was some truth to the reports.

The news follows statements issued by the company last month in which Flagship CVO David Brevik dismissed rumors of widespread staff departures after the poor reception of the PC action RPG, adding that the company "believe[s] in the future of Hellgate."

More possible evidence of turbulence within the struggling studio comes from Korean news website TheGames.co.kr translated by fansite Hellgate Guru... Read more

Responding to rumors of widespread staff departures, Hellgate: London (PC) developer Flagship Studios said that the company is fully staffed and at work on several upcoming projects.

Flagship CVO David Brevik dismissed the rumors as exaggerated and inaccurate, noting that the company currently employs over 100 workers at its two studios, and has seen less than 10% turn-over in its workforce.

"As is typical in the industry, after a game is released some people naturally want to work on something else and they leave the company to do so," Brevik said in a statement posted on the Hellgate forums.

Reports of a staff exodus stemmed from a blog post written by Flagship programmer Guy Somberg, who claimed that members of the staff were leaving "in droves" after the poor reception of Hellgate: London. Brevik acknowledged the game's ... Read more

Flagship Studios, creators of Mythos (PC) and Hellgate: London (PC), announced today that it has secured financing with Texas-based Comerica Bank to support the continuing development of its franchises.

Comerica Bank stated that it is using an independent film financing model as the basis for a multi-million dollar financing package, which is backed by the sale and distribution rights for Hellgate: London.

"By following a model similar to independent film financing, we are able to directly finance ongoing content for our online games without relying upon a publisher's investment," said Flagship business development director Steve Goldstein.

He added, "As the PC game business makes the transition from the boxed retail model to the online model, alternative financing will become a cornerstone of expanding the industry."

Not the most exciting reading on this Sunday afternoon, but Know Your Devs: Interviews with Flagship Studios on Hellgate Guru asks Brent Shinn and Brennan Ieyoub about their work.

The Hellgate: London news page notes that Flagship Studios is hiring, with the company looking for a software testing engineer and a customer service manager. Thanks Voodoo Extreme.

HellgateRPG Planet has a dev blog from Bill Roper, who writes about Flagship Studios' presence at the recent San Diego Comic Con.

New at Computer Games Magazine this morning is this Q&A with Bill Roper, asking the co-founder of Flagship Studios about the company. Flagship is currently working on an RPG to be published by Namco, with actual info on the game coming "in the next few months".

German site GameVision has a new Q&A with Bill Roper, who's asked about his new company Flagship Studios. Though it has not yet been revealed what Flagship is working on, Namco will be publishing.

PC.IGN has a Q&A with Namco's Robert Ennis & Flagship's Bill Roper, asking them about the recent announcement that Namco's new PC division will publish the first Flagship Studios game.