Apparently, Phillipines isn't the only place releaseing Hellgate prematurely. As Kaiser mentions it on HGL.com, it is probably a lot more widespread than that:
"We're aware that some retailers have started selling Hellgate: London a day early. While the game had shipped to stores, they were not supposed to start selling copies until Wednesday, October 31st. This means that while some people have been able to get their hands on the game a day early, they aren't able to get onto the multiplayer servers. This is because we are not starting service until Halloween. We apologize for any inconvenience and frustration that has been caused trigger-happy stores. When the servers go live, we'll make sure to post a notice on www.hellgatelondon.com and www.flagshipstudios.com so that there is no confusion.
Thanks for your support of the game and we'll see you online very soon!"
Before Flagship Studios, there was Blizzard North. Originally known as Condor, the Redwood-based studio was acquired in 1997 by Blizzard Entertainment. At the time, Blizzard North was hard at work on the development of the game that would be the cornerstone of everything that came after: Diablo.
IGN : Remember Hellgate: London? The dark fantasy action role-playing game came out in 2007 for PC, a year before developer Flagship Studios went bankrupt. Since then, various free-to-play and online revivals have come and gone. Now, 17 years after the release of Hellgate: London, it’s back.
I remember some friends and I all bought Hellgate: London day one because it was made by some original Diablo devs. We had fun playing it, good memories.
PC Invasion: Hellgate: London is back on Steam, but it's not what you expect it to be. It's a single-player game in the vein of Asian MMOs.
