The launch of Flagship Studios' action-RPG Hellgate London had a number of issues back in October 2007 and as a result the long awaited PC game made by many of the same folks who created Blizzard's first two Diablo titles didn't sell as anticipated. Now a personal blog post from one of the game's team members is causing Flagship to do some damage control over the future of the game and the developer.

The blog post (which has since been removed but has been reprinted at IncGames) comes from Flagship's audio and gameplay manager Guy Somberg who stated, "Work is depressing right now" because of the poor response to the game from fans and that " . . . people are leaving. In droves". He stated that he might be the only senior developer on Hellgate London before too long and that " . . I'm getting burned out on Hellgate."

Kotaku decided to chat with Somberg and Flagship's web manager and writer Ivan Sulic on the situation and both now tell a somewhat different story on life at the developer. Sulic claims, "We've actually had very few people leave. Flagship is still fully staffed and working on both Hellgate and Mythos... I think we have about 100 employees now." He added that, " . . . we couldn't have had more than five or six departures. Still, if those five or six dudes are people you work with everyday, it can't feel great." Somberg was quoted as saying he was sorry about all the attension his blog post had generated, saying he was " . .. frustrated and overwhelmed" when he wrote that blog post at the time. He added that he, " . . . was surprised and disappointed at the community's response to my words, which were more directed at my family and friends to describe my state of mind at the time, than to give any sort of insight into the company."