Hellgate: London was a game ahead of its time in a lot of ways, introducing open-world looter and roguelike mechanics before those things became a hot trend. As such, the game is still remembered fairly well despite not being a huge seller at the time. Well, it seems the series may be coming back, because the original game’s producer Bill Roper has announced an Unreal Engine 5 sequel, Hellgate: Redemption, will be produced through his new studio Lunacy Games. Roper had the following to say about the revival…
“I’ve dreamed of returning to the franchise we created back in 2007 for many, many years. I’ve always felt I had unfinished business with the Hellgate IP, which is why our codename for the project is Hellgate: Redemption. By using Unreal Engine 5, cloud-based game servers, as many off-the-shelf solutions as possible, and great co-development partnerships, we’re putting every development dollar toward gameplay and innovation. We’re keeping core gameplay and lore elements of Hellgate: London in our current design, but our intent is to build an exciting new experience that takes advantage of the numerous advances the industry has seen over the past 17 years since the original game launched.”
That all sounds good, but there’s reason to be skeptical. According to a VentureBeat interview with Roper, Lunacy Games only has five employees at the moment, with the company currently seeking investment to get up to full speed. Also, Hellgate: Redemption won’t be Lunacy Games’ first project – they’re going to be working on a “weird west” survival RPG first, which Roper claims will have “graphic fidelity like Red Dead Redemption 2 mixed with the exploration and environmental storytelling of Skyrim and many of the survival elements and player freedom of Conan Exiles.”
Sooo, yeah… those are some big boasts! I get that you have to promise big to get folks on board, but this is already starting to feel a bit like a pipe dream. But hey, if they can actually make Hellgate: Redemption happen, I’m on board, as there was definitely a lot of potential in Hellgate: London.
What do you think? Will Hellgate: Redemption actually happen? Are you interested if it does?
