Right on time, Namco Bandai pulled the plug on the United States and European servers for "Hellgate London" just like they previously said they would.

So what was it like witnessing the end of a virtual world? Scott from the Pumping Irony blog writes: "The last few lines of chat that came across my screen were:

'Take care all, let's kick ass wherever we go!'

'love u all'

'dang this really SUX'

'bye everyone'"

Scott continued. "Seconds after that final goodbye, there was a sudden jolt of lag as we were all sent back to the 'Hellgate' title screen and greeted with the message of a virtual world that no longer exists."

As depressing as you might find this to be, "The End" may not really mean the end. As we reported last week, "Hellgate" servers in Asia were not shut down due to Hanbitsoft owning the rights in that region. However unlikely it may be, Hanbitsoft could somehow wrestle the U.S. and European rights away from Namco Bandai and flip those servers back on. If and when that happens, we'll be sure to let you know.