Yesterday, Flagship Studios revealed that their upcoming debut action/RPG title Hellgate: London‘s multiplayer would be subscription based. The subscription would pay for continual content and MMORPG features such as guilds, as well as raid-type gameplay. This announcement has since flared up the community, as most gamers did not envision paying for additional content in a game they assumed would have a free multiplayer, like Blizzard Entertainment did with Battle.net–where many Flagship Studios staff members were previously employed.
Today, Shacknews reported a clarification in an interview tih Flagship Studios’ CEO Bill Roper. Roper elucidated his comments, stating that the subscription model is currently only one option that’s under consideration by the developer and publishers Electronic Arts and Namco Bandai. In at least a small sigh-of-relief, Roper insisted that Hellgate: London will ship with a free online mode, with no subscription fee attached. Even with this revelation, the rest of the interview implied that the subscription model would be pursued, as its features were fully fleshed out.
Roper talked about how the free online mode will be lacking options when compared to the full MMO features, such as 24/7 customer service, secure servers, databases, and continual content. He stated, "Actually, right when you buy the game, when it launches there will already be content available that you can’t get in the single-player–additional monsters, areas, all the community and economy things, you’ll be able to form guilds, auction houses, all those things you expect from MMOs."
