Tags: Games   Hellgate: London   Rants   Virtual Worlds


The hype machine at Flagship Studios has finally answered the burning question on gamers' minds: How much will the monthly subscription fee for Hellgate: London cost? See the price and their explanation here.

As I wrote earlier, I was hoping it would be a fun diversion like Diablo. But I'm not willing to pay a bill every month for something like that.

As the official site says, the game is free to play... as long as you don't want any updates.

For all players, HELLGATE: LONDON comes completely free-to-play out of the box and will offer a secure online experience... 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... [and on and on and on]

What a scam. So, you are buying a demo of the game. After a few weeks, they will start releasing updates that only subscribers get. If you aren't paying, you're left in the demo areas. As soon as one of your friends gets a subscription, then you will have to start paying too if you want to keep playing with him.

If that's the business model they want, they need to deliver the kind of content that you find in an MMO, but it doesn't look that way.

I'm sure they'll do very well. But my interest is officially gone.