I knew a lot of folks were unhappy with Hellgate: London, but I didn't think the situation was so bad. It's sad news to hear that Flagship Studios are basically kaput. It's a shame for the staff for sure and the players.

It does illustrate how some developers overextend themselves and then cannot recover unless they launch big. It's a greater concern in the MMORPG space, where us players do expect persistence, in fact it's probably the cardinal rule due to the amount of time and energy we invest in characters.

Since they've laid off the staff (which sucks), it's unlikely that the investors will keep the IP going. Just this news alone will probably cause a mass exodus away from the game, which may be shut down anyway.