HanbitSoft, as you may
now know, financed Flagship Studios in exchange for the rights to
Mythos should Bill Roper's band of merry men default on their agreement. In addition, they also partnered with venture capitalists Comerica for a second loan agreement that used
Hellgate: London as collateral. On Friday, HanbitSoft stated that they were taking control of these intellectual properties following news of Flagship's collapse. Flagship denied their death and further stated that they would fight HanbitSoft's claim.
On Saturday
we confirmed the closure news via a source close to Flagships's Community Manager, Taylor Balbi. Since then we have confirmed the departure of nineteen staff, had our news supported by another ex-employee, and received no denial from Flagship, or their lawyers, which would be difficult as their legal head is one of the nineteen confirmed casualties.
Korean news site
TheGames (translated by
Hellgate Guru) has now had the chance to speak to HanbitSoft CEO, Kim Ki-Young. In their interview, Ki-Young could not confirm the closure of Flagship, having not received notification from Bill Roper or other members of management (Flagship's investor liaison is another confirmed casualty), but did reaffirm that they own the rights to both
Mythos and
Hellgate: London. However, they cannot legally acquire these rights until Flagship files for bankruptcy or otherwise confirms that they are defaulting on the loan agreements.
Ki-Young also stated that HanbitSoft had been preparing for Flagship's closure for some time, and that they were ready and prepared to continue development of the two titles for the Asian markets using in-house staff, as relayed in an earlier update through their
Hellgate: London community portal. Finally, Ki-Young addressed point five of a statement issued by their North American lawyers on Friday. In said statement, they concluded with, "it is unfortunate that Flagship turned down additional investments HanbitSoft offered to make that would have allowed it to keep its doors open." These terms were unacceptable to Flagship, claimed Ki-Young, and so, with their confidence in Roper's studio at an all-time low, they declined to sweeten the deal, leaving the firm high and dry. Meanwhile, we have been contacted by an ex-Flagship developer who claims that Bill Roper and several members of the upper management are attempting to form a casual games studio. True? False? Who knows! Stay tuned, we'll have more on this ongoing drama in the near future.