Game Espresso: 01/13/08

Cabalist Model at the Festival

HGLD festival summary

Hellgate: London Open Festival Summary

Seoul, Korea (January 13, 2008) – HanbitSoft today announced that launch party for Hellgate: London had been a great success.

Over two thousand guests filled the scene. People who wanted to get in first came six hours before the entrance time, in snowy weather. HanbitSoft’s staff in charge of the festival had to let the people in 30minuties before schedule because of cold, snowy weather.

Hellgate: London Launch Festival began on time with Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios and Alex Kim, CEO of HanbitSoft performing ‘the very first log-in” show. After the show, Bill Roper himself came up to the stage and made a presentation on Stonehenge Episode which will be added after the open beta. Later, Eric Liu and Jin Kim of Flagship Studios made introduction. Eric is International Producer who communicates with International producers of Asian partners, and Jin is Korean concept artist who works on Hellgate: London.

In the second half of the show, Korean musicians Girls Generation, Yunha and DJ DOC performed. Bill Roper also came up the stage and performed to thank the fans who made to the festival.

On January 12th, Bill Roper also had a meeting with his fan gamers at HanbitSoft conference room. There, he talked about Hellgate: London, and further more about the game industry with his fans. “I had a really good time with our fans. They are so mature, and their depth of understanding the game just surprises me all the time,” said Bill Roper, “I was moved when one of the gamers made presentation on Hellgate: London in English.”

Despite hard schedule, Bill visited one of internet cafes after servers for pre open of Hellgate: London opened at four. He requested to visit internet café while he’s in Korea during the pre-open service to see players playing Hellgate: London for himself. “I understand how internet café industry is important in Korean online game industry” said Bill Roper, and added “like Starcraft contributed to booming the internet café culture and economy, HanbitSoft and Flagship Studio will make Hellgate: London the next legendary title that boosts the whole industry.”

Hellgate: London had its pre-open beta yesterday, January 12th, for 24hours to run the final check before its grand opening on January 15th.

Girl Generation vs Yunha

Girls Generation vs Yunha at Hellgate Launching Festival

Seoul, Korea- January 13, 2008- Korea’s one of most popular singing group and a well known global star each performed at the Hellgate: London Launching Festival last Friday, January 11th, in Seoul.

During Hellgate: London’s Launching Festival, Girls Generation and Yunha were asked which their favorite character is in Hellgate: London. Their different answers caught the attention to the audiences and it is now in hot topics.

“We like to play games in our spare time, and we are always excited to know the new titles that are out there” said Girls Generation, “In Hellgate: London, our favorite is Templar.”

On the other hand, “I don’t really know what the name is, but I like the one with a tattoo on its shoulders” said Yunha. The character she picked out which she meant by Cabalist, was her favorite.

Strangely enough to believe it was a coincidence, but both character classes they chose reflects on their features right now. Girls Generation is formed by nine members and Templars, fight the best when they fight in groups. They both need team work and strategy to bring out their potentials.

Yunha, a solo singer chose Cabalist which uses healers and various kinds of sorcery and usually works alone. They too share some common features in their fields.

“We saw the movie trailer while we were waiting back stage, and it was awesome” said Girls Generation, “It was like blockbuster movie. We can’t wait for Hellgate: London’s open beta. We will definitely try it later.”

HanbitSoft announced that pre-open service of Hellgate: London that had been on for 24hours since yesterday was closed today with out any server or network problems. Hellgate: London will begin open beta service on January 15th, according to the schedule.

Hellgate: London Celebrates Open Beta

Hellgate: London Celebrates the Grand Open

Seoul, Korea (January 11, 2008) – HanbitSoft today announced that Hellgate: London starts its pre-open beta service on January 12th.

Hellgate: London is starting its pre-open beta tomorrow for 24hours to run the final check before its grand opening on January 15th. Pre-open service will be a great chance for players who want to create their characters as soon as possible, which will be available after the official open. Sooner you create, better name you can get. Players can create up to 24 characters, and HanbitSoft will choose the ones who have the most unique character names present Hellgate: London figure.

HanbitSoft also revealed the latest play movie and preview trailer of Stonehenge Episode, the biggest update after the open beta. Stonehenge is the extensive land outside the ruined London city, where it has stronger community features than any other areas. Stonehenge asks for more players for more party plays, and more repeatable play is supported which provides better experience of Hellgate: London as online game. Stonehenge will be updated in mid January in North America and Europe, and February in Korea.

Before the pre-open service, HanbitSoft is opening a grand launching Festival tonight in Seoul. Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship Studios, Eric Liu, International Producer and Jin Kim, Graphic Artist is joining the party and popular music artists Girls Generation, Yunha, and DJ DOC are also invited to the event for performance.