“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.” said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. “The past five years have been an incredible experience for us, but unfortunately, we couldn’t sustain the size of the company any longer.”
Flagship Studios owns the rights to all its technology and IP, including Hellgate: London and Mythos. Due to the current situation, Flagship will not be taking any new subscribers for Hellgate: London, and all current subscriptions will not be billed.
Flagship wishes to extend their heartfelt thanks to those that have supported the company and games over the past five years.
About Flagship Studios
Flagship Studios is a creator of innovative entertainment software, designing games that focused on ease of play, replayability, and fun. The studio was formed in 2003 by former executives and developers from Blizzard North® and represents the creators of the worldwide, best-selling Diablo® franchise. With members that are renowned within the gaming industry, Flagship Studios and its Flagship Seattle division embodies a team that has worked together for over a decade and have numerous #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards to their credit.
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San Francisco, CA (April 1, 2008) -- Flagship Studios announced today the acquisition of Hellgate High School in Missoula, Montana. The independent game studio has used monies secured through a combination of institutional investments and parimutuel windfalls to not only purchase the facility, but also provide funding for AP College prep programs in the fields of Game Development and Greater European Survival Studies.
“We recognize the importance of a strong national educational program and have wanted to contribute to the instruction of future world-wide leaders for quite some time,” said Flagship CEO Bill Roper. “The creation of numerous collegiate-level programs and publication of post-apocalyptic guides have neglected students at the High School level. Our new programs at Hellgate High School will provide a rigorous education in a safe environment through which students can acquire the knowledge, skills, spells, and technology needed to fulfill their adult roles and responsibilities in the twenty-first century.”
Hellgate High recently had the highest test scores in the State of Montana in reference to reading and writing. In 2007, the Hellgate Academic WorldQuest team received first place in the State competition, advancing onto the national competition in Washington D.C. where they took second place in the nation.
“Aside from their ability to complete quests on a global level, Hellgate High School also has an extensive network of underground tunnels that were last used decades ago.” noted Erich Schaefer, CCO and Lead Designer on Hellgate: London. “This makes the location of the campus a natural for studying both level design and closed-quarter combat techniques.”
There will also be numerous cross-over opportunities between existing programs and new coursework. Hellgate High School has a successful music program which sends highest number of students (20-30 per year) from any high school in Montana to attend All-State Band, Orchestra, Choir, and Jazz programs.
“I can’t wait to get these talented kids into the studio!” exclaimed Dave Steinwedel, Lead Sound and Music Maestro at Flagship Studios. “Not only can we add a whole new timbre of music to our games, but the diversity of noises we can get out of them should keep us in monster voices for years.”
Hellgate High School is the largest high school in the Missoula County Public School District of Montana in terms of student body population. With approximately 1,200 students and a faculty of approximately 100, the campus is ideally situated for new programs being in Q3, 2008 which have been titled The High School Chronicles.
About Flagship Studios
Flagship Studios is a creator of innovative entertainment software, designing games that focus on ease of play, replayablility and fun. The studio was formed in 2003 by former executives and developers from Blizzard North® and represents the creators of the worldwide, best-selling Diablo® franchise. They are also a bunch of cut-ups who like a good April Fool’s Day joke as much as the next studio.
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“This is a fantastic opportunity to present the strong, powerful female characters of the Hellgate universe to lovers of Barbie around the world,” said Bill Roper, CEO. “We have always sought to work with the best companies possible in bringing our world to other mediums, so having the chance to cooperate with Mattel in this way was something we couldn’t pass up.”
Barbie is one of the world’s best-selling fashion dolls. Launched in 1959, Barbie has had more than 80 careers -- everything from a rock star to a paleontologist to a presidential candidate. Barbie even represented astronauts in 1965, 1986 and 1994.
Close to 1 billion fashions have been produced since 1959 for Barbie and her friends. The military series of Barbie dolls - Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps - went through approvals by the Pentagon to ensure the most realistic costumes.
“The concepts of collecting armor and items found in the game translate perfectly to creating a full-featured line of clothing and accessories,” said Stacy Lovell, Director of Ancillary Marketing. “Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for nearly fifty years and we’re thrilled to see her move forward into the year 2038 to battle evil.”
About Flagship Studios
Flagship Studios is a creator of innovative entertainment software, designing games that focus on ease of play, replayablility and fun. The studio was formed in 2003 by former executives and developers from Blizzard North® and represents the creators of the worldwide, best-selling Diablo® franchise. They are also a bunch of cut-ups who like a good April Fool’s Day joke as much as the next studio. Also, please don’t sue us Mattel. It’s all in good fun. Really!
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Explore New Environments, Conquer New Demons and Find More Phat Loot
in the First Chapter of the Hellgate Chronicles
The fight for humanity is spreading away from the streets and sewers of London and moving all the way out to the mystical areas surrounding Stonehenge – or what’s left of it. The first installment of the ongoing Hellgate Chronicles is going live for subscribers on Monday, January 21st, 2008.
Stonehenge is a huge outdoor hub accessed through a special portal in Templar Base, connecting players to several new and exciting quests. Heroes will find themselves in completely new open, outdoor wilderness areas unlike anything seen within the city limits of London, battling terrifying new demons and bosses and finding new items very distinct in their appearance. This action-packed update includes:
- The Caste Caves – Unlock four unique dungeons, one for each caste of enemy – Beast, Necro, Spectral and Demon – to seek and destroy a powerful overlord that resides in each cave. Defeating them and collecting their heads will allow you to continue the adventure…
- Moloch’s Lair – Only after collecting the heads from the Caste Caves will heroes be allowed entry into the lair, with a chance to defeat the legendary Moloch, one of hell’s most imposing minions who carries very unique items that can only be obtained by defeating him in combat. And because Moloch’s soul is eternal, this quest and it’s rewards can be a never-ending challenge.
- The Wild – These three mini-raid areas present players with difficult obstacles but also huge rewards with three levels that get increasingly more difficult even with the recommended full party size – you will need a small army to get through these challenges.
In addition to the above, The Stonehenge Chronicles also includes many of the other updates the Hellgate: London community has been asking for, including improvements to game UI, a large number of skill balance changes, a PvP dueling arena and more.
Hellgate: London subscribers can also now pay for their subscriptions via PayPal and PayByCash. For more information on payment options and a full list of notes for this update, please visit www.hellgatelondon.com.
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For all players, HELLGATE: LONDON comes completely free-to-play out of the box and will offer a secure online experience with features including the ability to play cooperatively with thousands of other players, trade items, join guilds and enjoy a host of gameplay and community features including voice chat and buddy lists.
For players with Subscription* accounts ( € 9.99 / £6.99 per month) , Flagship Studios will deliver exciting new ongoing content including new character classes, areas, monsters, items and raid content, new game modes (including Hardcore, Role-Play and PvP mode), and additional character and stash slots. Subscribers can found guilds, select to nominate an officer and will have access to guild and player housing. Other features include in-game email for items, web access to characters and a place in future beta lotteries.
HELLGATE: LONDON combines the depth of role-playing games and the action of first-person shooter titles, while offering infinite playability with dynamically generated levels, items, enemies and events. The player creates a heroic character, completes quests, and battles through innumerable hordes of demons to advance through experience levels and branching skill paths. A robust, flexible skill and spell system, highly customizable appearances, and a massive variety of randomly generated equipment allow players to create their own unique hero.
HELLGATE: LONDON will be released in Europe on November 2nd.
For more information about the game please visit www.hellgatelondon.com .
* Some subscription features will be available only after the release of HELLGATE: LONDON.
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It's true: Hellgate: London will be shipping to US stores this Halloween. A fitting date, no? While the summer season was our initial release window, we just want to make sure the game is perfect before all of you get to play it. That means a few extra weeks of testing and balancing, but we think you'll agree it's for a cause that's worth it. We'll have a few more announcements in the coming weeks regarding preorders and our Collector's Edition, but suffice it to say that you will be pleased. That's not an assumption.
As mentioned, we're hammering away at the game, and the Alpha is going well; bugs are getting squashed, servers are getting stable, and we're all losing sleep (in a good way). Trish just got married as well, and we're super duper excited for her! We also have the first Flagship baby on its way from Jung, our graphic design guru, so it's good feelings all around. Stay tuned for more, but for those who care, here's the full press release...
EA AND NAMCO BANDAI GAMES ANNOUNCE OCTOBER 31st RELEASE DATE FOR HELLGATE: LONDON
Redwood City, Calif. – August 6, 2007 – Get ready to hack, slash, and shoot your way through a demon-infested London this Halloween! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) and NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced that Hellgate™: London, the premier title from Flagship Studios, will start hitting retail stores in North America on October 31, 2007 and in Europe on November 2, 2007 for the PC. Hellgate: London represents the next leap in the evolution of the action RPG genre, combining the depth and addictive gameplay of traditional RPGs with the visceral action of first-person shooters.
“We wanted to hit the sweet-spot for release in terms of the development schedule and delivering the highest-quality game to our players,” said Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios. “Halloween was the perfect fit as it ensures that Hellgate: London will have an appropriate amount of beta testing, while also being an incredibly fun time to unleash the game.”
One of the most anticipated PC games and RPGs of the year, Hellgate: London offers infinite re-playability with dynamically generated levels, items, enemies and events. The player creates a heroic character, completes quests, and battles through an innumerable amount of demons to advance through a deep, rich story-driven campaign. A robust, flexible skill and spell system, highly customizable appearances, and a massive variety of randomly generated equipment allow each player to create his or her own unique hero.
While some may prefer to slay demons solo, players will also be able to take the fight online*, teaming up with friends to save London in a secure, client-server environment and playing through the entire story-driven campaign for free. For those players who want to extend their Hellgate: London experience, Flagship is offering an optional subscription service which will give players access to huge amounts of content on an ongoing basis in the form of quests, character classes, demons, items, etc. More details about Hellgate: London’s online options are coming soon.
The game has not yet been rated by the ESRB, PEGI or BBFC. Visit www.esrb.org, www.pegionline.eu or www.bbfc.co.uk for updated rating information. For more information about Hellgate: London, log onto http://info.ea.com or the game’s official website at www.hellgatelondon.com.
* Internet connection required.
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About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
About Flagship Studios
Flagship Studios is a creator of innovative entertainment software, designing games that focus on ease of play, replayability, and fun. The studio was formed in 2003 by former executives and developers from Blizzard North® and represents the creators of the worldwide, best-selling Diablo® franchise. With members that are renowned within the gaming industry, Flagship Studios embodies a team that has worked together for over a decade and have numerous #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards to their credit. For more information about Flagship Studios log onto www.flagshipstudios.com.
About NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.
NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., is a leading interactive entertainment software publisher and developer based in Santa Clara, CA. The company is a part of the NAMCO BANDAI group of companies known for creating and publishing many of the industry's top video game franchises including the PAC-MAN®, SOULCALIBUR®, NARUTO™ and Tekken® brands. For more information about NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., and our products log onto www.namcobandaigames.com. EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S and/or other countries. Hellgate™: London is a trademark and/or registered trademark of Flagship Studios, Inc. throughout the world. Licensed by NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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