HanbitSoft has scored the publishing rights for Hellgate in North America, Europe and Japan from Namco Bandai as was previously suggested. Hellgate's doors shut to the public early last year following the implosion of developer, Flagship Studios.
When Flagship closed the online portion of the game was suspended indefinitely in the relevant regions. Now that HanbitSoft has the worldwide publishing rights, you can expect to see the gates reopen in 2010 / 2011.
"We would like to thank Namco Bandai Games America for allowing us to acquire the Hellgate publishing rights and are thrilled to have eager gamers worldwide return and enjoy the franchise," said Kee-Young Kim, CEO of HanbitSoft, adding, "Hellgate: Resurrection is heading towards success in Korea such that we decided to push ahead with launching the game overseas next year. We will do our best to get the game to the fans as soon as possible."
Zack Karlsson, senior director of business development at Namco Bandai, said, "We are pleased to participate in the revitalization of Hellgate through this agreement and are deeply gratified to allow Hanbitsoft to take the lead on this franchise and bring this game to the people who seek it."
Over to you - do you remember the problems that hampered Hellgate in its early days? Were you a subscriber? Do you plan on going back?