In an interview with Shacknews, Flagship studios CEO Bill Roper has detailed the company's plan to set up a subscription based service for the online aspect of their summer release Hellgate: London.

Hellgate: London has been described as a FPS/RPG and was fully expected to be free to play online, but Flagship Studios were keen to point out that a subscription fee is necessary because the game draws significantly from massively multiplayer games, with genre trappings such as guilds, continually developed content, a full social system, and raid-type gameplay.

"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," said Roper.

Roper has also stated that gamers will be offered the opportunity to trial the multiplayer mode for free.

Source: Source