A report on Friday said that Hellgate: London developer Flagship Studios has experienced widespread layoffs, but Flagship's CEO is opting to stay quiet on the rumor for now.

Citing an unnamed "source close to Flagship studios," Big Download said that "nearly everyone in the development studio has been laid off."

A preoccupied Bill Roper, CEO of Flagship, said in a hurried phone conversation with Next-Gen on Friday that he could not talk about the unconfirmed reports for now, and offered only a "no comment."

Flagship's PC action-RPG Hellgate: London launched in October 2007 in the U.S., and met with lukewarm reception from critics and gamers.

However, a recent Korean beta test launch saw over 1 million registered accounts.

Roper, previously VP of Blizzard North, is a Flagship co-founder, along with other former key Blizzard figures.

Big Download's report comes just a month after reports emerged from an allegedly "frustrated" Flagship programmer, who said in his personal blog that Flagship staffers were leaving "in droves."

Flagship denied the blog post, calling the employee's comments "exaggerated" and "inaccurate."

Despite the rumors, Flagship currently has job openings posted on its website.