Hellgate: London Devs Leaving 'in Droves'
The staff at Flagship Studios is stepping away not just from Hellgate: London, but the entire company.
In a personal blog post entitled "Work is Depressing [http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:EWj5vpvGDwAJ:adiss.the-cabal.org/blog/2008/05/09/work-is-depressing/+adiss+cabal+org+blog+2008+work+depressing&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us]" (and has since been deleted), Flagship Studios audio and gameplay programmer Guy Somberg ranted on the problems with his development studio and the letdown release of multiplayer action role-playing game Hellgate: London.
Somberg explains his post title, "The reason is that people are leaving."
"In droves, they're leaving," he continues. "We've had programmers, accountants, HR people, and artists leave. The founders are all still around, but they've been floating away from Hellgate to work on various other projects."
With the Hellgate's original programmers off on other projects, employees are looking elsewhere for work.
"Thing is, the way things are going I'm likely to be the only programmer still working on Hellgate left from the original crew," wrote a somber Somberg. "I've heard rumours that other programmers and artists are thinking of leaving.... It's just overwhelming and depressing having all of these people go. Every time a programmer leaves, it's more work for me. Every time an artist leaves, it's less content that we can create for Hellgate in the future."
Hellgate still has some chance, he thinks, if Asia can pick up the sales slack.
Somberg hopes, "I'm keeping a positive attitude about it because of Korea and China. The Koreans really love the game, and the Chinese have yet to see it. I don't know how any of these deals are structured, but I'm hinging my hopes for Hellgate's future on the Asian market."
Source: Plain Text [http://adiss.the-cabal.org/blog] via GamesIndustry.biz [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/flagship-programmer-says-staff-are-leaving-in-droves]
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The staff at Flagship Studios is stepping away not just from Hellgate: London, but the entire company.
In a personal blog post entitled "Work is Depressing [http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:EWj5vpvGDwAJ:adiss.the-cabal.org/blog/2008/05/09/work-is-depressing/+adiss+cabal+org+blog+2008+work+depressing&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us]" (and has since been deleted), Flagship Studios audio and gameplay programmer Guy Somberg ranted on the problems with his development studio and the letdown release of multiplayer action role-playing game Hellgate: London.
Somberg explains his post title, "The reason is that people are leaving."
"In droves, they're leaving," he continues. "We've had programmers, accountants, HR people, and artists leave. The founders are all still around, but they've been floating away from Hellgate to work on various other projects."
With the Hellgate's original programmers off on other projects, employees are looking elsewhere for work.
"Thing is, the way things are going I'm likely to be the only programmer still working on Hellgate left from the original crew," wrote a somber Somberg. "I've heard rumours that other programmers and artists are thinking of leaving.... It's just overwhelming and depressing having all of these people go. Every time a programmer leaves, it's more work for me. Every time an artist leaves, it's less content that we can create for Hellgate in the future."
Hellgate still has some chance, he thinks, if Asia can pick up the sales slack.
Somberg hopes, "I'm keeping a positive attitude about it because of Korea and China. The Koreans really love the game, and the Chinese have yet to see it. I don't know how any of these deals are structured, but I'm hinging my hopes for Hellgate's future on the Asian market."
Source: Plain Text [http://adiss.the-cabal.org/blog] via GamesIndustry.biz [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/flagship-programmer-says-staff-are-leaving-in-droves]
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