Alors ça, si quelqu'un l'avait vu venir... On apprend dans un article de Shacknews que la partie multi-joueur de Hellgate : London sera payante. La raison est simple : le système sera de type "MMO" ; c'est à dire à la fois persistant et massivement multijoueur.

La campagne solo sera disponible en multi, mais ce n'est pas tout. On nous promet du contenu exclusif au multi-joueur, y comprit du contenu de raid. Une équipe de Flagship sera d'ailleurs dédiée à l'ajout de contenu multi-joueur/online. Un mode hardcore sera lui aussi présent, de même que des "modes [là aussi] exclusifs au multijoueur".

Note : Shacknews étant actuellement inaccessible, vous trouverez un copié/collé de l'article dans la seconde partie de cette news.

In addition to yesterday's announcement that Hellgate: London will be shipping in Summer 2007, developer Flagship Studios revealed this week that the game's multiplayer component is a subscription-based MMO. Speaking to Shacknews at CES in Las Vegas, CEO Bill Roper noted that the game is a full scale massively multiplayer game, with genre trappings such as guilds, continually developed content, a full social system, and raid-type gameplay.

Drawing similarities to ArenaNet's Guild Wars, the Hellgate MMO is heavily instanced. Group and solo PvE is the game's main focus; PvP will exist in a small scale form, but is not a major element of the initial launch. It will also feature a Hardcore mode similar to that found in Blizzard's Diablo II, a game on which many members of the Hellgate team worked. Hellgate's MMO will contain all of the missions and story from the single-player aspect of the game, as well as exclusive gameplay modes and content. Like the single-player game, the MMO will be comprised of dynamically generated areas and items. Further content will be continually added over time by a dedicated Flagship team.

Flagship expects to launch an open beta prior to the launch of the game. Pricing details have not yet been determined, though Roper noted that there will be some kind of trial or free play system for those looking to get a taste of the game without commitment.

"I think that just as Diablo and Diablo II started this religious argument over whether they're RPGs or not, I think that Hellgate will spark that same debate over whether it's an MMO or not," commented Roper, who added that the game has been designed as an MMO from day one. Check back this week for an extensive interview with Roper, delving more comprehensively into the online aspects of Hellgate: London.