Red 5 Studios reveal Firefall, coming to PC 'near the end of 2011'
Perhaps it isn't enough for you to know that Firefall — Red 5 Studios' first release — is full of guns and jetpacks? Would it help if you knew that the lead designer was also headed up Tribes? Ahhh, good! Firefall is a "team-based action shooter" featuring "hundreds of players" completing objectives and battling to the death in a "dynamic open world." And, frankly, it looks great.
The title is free-to-play and relies on an in-game marketplace for profit. We might normally balk at such a monetization system, but we were thoroughly impressed by the game's debut gameplay trailer, not to mention the pedigree behind Firefall. If you're as enticed as we are, you'll be glad to know that Red 5 is accepting applications for the game's beta starting right now.%Gallery-101312%
"Firefall"
Seattle, WA, (September 3, 2010) – Today, at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), Red 5 Studios®
announced Firefall®, the studio's first title brought to you by the team lead of World of
Warcraft and the lead designer of Tribes. 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. Firefall is due for release near the end of
2011.
"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, former lead designer behind groundbreaking
multiplayer shooter Tribes, 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 will protect the Earth through the use of high-tech battleframes, which can be
customized extensively to unlock the power of Firefall's class-based combat. Battleframes
allow players to specialize in their favorite style of play, while giving them the flexibility to swap
and trade their way to new configurations on-the-fly. Whether you enjoy supporting your
team, aggressively assaulting an enemy position, or sneaking behind enemy lines, there is a
battleframe for you.
Firefall will feature a free-to-play model that allows players to experience every detail of the
vibrant world without having to pay a 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 http://www.firefallthegame.com.
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.