Today, at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), Red 5 Studios® announced Firefall®, the studio’s first title. Due for release near the end of 2011, Firefall is a team-based action shooter that thrusts hundreds of players together into a lush, dynamic open world combining intense competitive multiplayer and large-scale cooperative gameplay.
The team at Red 5 Studios® includes a wide variety of talented individuals who have helped develop award-winning games, including the team lead for World of Warcraft and the lead designer behind the groundbreaking Tribes franchise. “When I founded Red 5, I knew I wanted to do something different than anything I’d done before.” says CEO and Chief Creative Officer Mark Kern, who led the development for World of Warcraft. “I wanted to take the best of what I learned making online games and bring that to skill-based shooters.” Scott Youngblood, Firefall’s Lead Designer, couldn’t agree more. “When Mark brought me on to help design Firefall, it was obvious to me that he was dedicated to building something different. With Firefall, I’m finally able to make the game of my dreams.”
Firefall paints a beautifully devastating vision of Earth, 200 years in the future. The promise of a new clean energy source, Crystite, leads to the disastrous arrival of the Melding, a hostile energy storm that engulfs most of our home planet. Earth’s surviving humans must band together in the eye of the Melding storm to save our species. Unfortunately, a new danger emerges as a bloodthirsty race known as The Chosen threatens humanity’s survival.
Players of the game will be able to customize their characters through Firefall’s battleframes system, which will not only allow them to specialize in their favorite style of play, but also give them the flexibility to swap and trade their way to new configurations on-the-fly.
Firefall will feature a free-to-play model that allows players to experience every detail of the vibrant world without having to pay a single penny. Updates to the game, dynamic world events, and other content will also be offered without a price tag, while a marketplace will allow fans to purchase optional enhancements.
Red 5 Studios is currently accepting applications for the beta program of Firefall. For more information, please visit Firefall’s official web site at
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About Red 5 Studios:
Red 5 Studios is an online game developer located in California, founded by Mark Kern, former team lead for World of Warcraft. Red 5 Studios is dedicated to bringing together millions of gamers across the world by creating immersive worlds, intriguing stories and compelling characters. They believe that online games and persistent worlds are the future of video games.
