Poor Hellgate. It promised so much, and delivered so little. So little, in fact, that it drove developers Flagship Studios out of business. As the mourners file slowly away from the studio's funeral and make their way towards the free finger food and drinks, it's time to reflect on just why Hellgate never made it. Creator Bill Roper has a fairly good idea:
Some of them were just bad timing in the PC market. The PC market was lousy last year. Some of it was the fact that we were an independent studio. We didn't have unlimited money, and we had to ship when we had to ship. Part of it was because we overreached, and that was a design problem that was totally our fault. We tried to do too much. We tried to be a standalone game and a free-play game and an MMO and an RPG and a shooter. We were trying to be something for everybody and ended up really not pleasing many people at all....
Sounds about right to us! Bill Roper: 'Hellgate Wasn't As Good As It Should Have Been' [1UP]