Firefall is completely fine, in case November’s significant layoffs and December’s inability to fulfill payroll didn’t make it clear enough. But you can’t expect a company to flat out admit that times are tough, at least if the public relations department wants to keep their jobs. So instead, Red 5 sent out a memo to the press stating that the company is still undergoing “optimization efforts” in preparation for the launch in Asia.
Red 5 Studios, Inc. is continuing to undergo reorganization and resource optimization efforts in order to secure our direction to meet the market needs of China and other Asian countries. The recent reorganization efforts include optimizing development resources and keeping bringing in new expertise and skill sets. Our support to Firefall and our players are continuous with content updates and customer support. As always Red 5 Studios is committed to providing the best gaming experiences to our audiences.
MMO Fallout will report further once we know how many employees have been strategically reorganized.
Red 5 Studios was founded by World of Warcraft veteran staff, and continued the tradition that Richard Garriot had upheld just a year prior: That for some reason new companies formed by old MMO vets have a habit of imploding in on themselves, if they ever even release a product. I also mentioned that Red 5’s MMOFPS appeared to have been scrapped in favor of a new MMO geared towards the Chinese market. Fast forward one month, and you have The9 (estranged ex-Chinese World of Wacraft host) buying the majority stake in Red 5 and FireRain. Since then, there hasn’t been much word from Red 5.
And there still isn’t. Production on Red 5’s MMO is still reportedly underway, with information coming soon.
“The game has not been put on hold or delayed. While we are using a highly-modified version of the Project Offset engine, the closing of the Intel team does not impact our ability to complete our own project. We look forward to releasing more information abouto ur project in the near future.”
Red 5 Studios was founded by World of Warcraft veteran staff, and continued the tradition that Richard Garriot had upheld just a year prior: That for some reason new companies formed by old MMO vets have a habit of imploding in on themselves, if they ever even release a product. I also mentioned that Red 5’s MMOFPS appeared to have been scrapped in favor of a new MMO geared towards the Chinese market. Fast forward one month, and you have The9 (estranged ex-Chinese World of Wacraft host) buying the majority stake in Red 5 and FireRain. Since then, there hasn’t been much word from Red 5.
And there still isn’t. Production on Red 5’s MMO is still reportedly underway, with information coming soon.
“The game has not been put on hold or delayed. While we are using a highly-modified version of the Project Offset engine, the closing of the Intel team does not impact our ability to complete our own project. We look forward to releasing more information abouto ur project in the near future.”
Who would have thought I would be following up on a Blizzard story and a Red 5 story at the same time? The9 is a spurned lover. After losing the rights to World of Warcraft Asia-Edition earlier this year to NetEase (granted, who promptly got the game banned just as quickly) and taking a massive loss in revenue, assuming that the company was in some financial difficulty would not be too illogical. Of course, you would be wrong. Not only does The9 have some moolah saved up, likely from the time World of Warcraft was feeding them seven or eight million players in the Asian region, they have enough to financially back two companies: Fire Rain and Red 5.
“Wait a minute, Omali,” you say. “I know that name, Red 5!” I would certainly hope so, I mentioned them just about a week ago. Red 5 has been in the news several times, not only because their MMOFPS is so tightly under wraps that the company actually suffocated (and will likely cancel) it, but because of the substantial number of employees who have been laid off over the past few years. A company of over one hundred has been reduced to approximately 35, and according to my last report, is currently focusing on an MMO for the Chinese Market.
Red 5 has been to death’s door and back, but will it be enough to sustain the company to completion of its Chinese MMO, let alone to spark a re-interest in that MMOFPS they were working on so many ages ago?
More on Red 5 Studios, and the obligatory Star Wars references, as it appears.
A man once said, “Those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach Gym.” I have a similar phrase for companies that make MMOs:
“Those who can’t develop, develop for China.”
-Omali, MMO Fallout, on the Asian MMO Market
Now, if you’re going to accuse me of implying that the Asian MMO market is saturated with hundreds of titles that are nothing more than cookie cutter item mall clones with enough grind to turn a pepper plant into microscopic sized specks, developed by small companies that rake in huge profits of the item mall selling faster leveling and insanely rare items for cash, and then use that money to not support the product by not getting rid of the endless amount of gold farmers that will populate the server and sell to a market in the millions whose standards barely break the point of “I don’t care about lore, immersion, or anything else as long as I can kill this one NPC several thousand times over,” well I would have no idea what you are talking about. I contest your assumption that I am comparing the quality aspect of developing for the Asian market, to the literature aspect of writing a book for toddlers.
Red 5 Studios was founded by World of Warcraft veterans, including Mark Kern, Team Lead over at Blizzard, which could lead one to believe that the company would be marginally as successful as Blizzard. Thanks to some trouble hiring, despite Red 5 going as far as bribing the hopefuls with Ipod Shuffles, development at the new studio never took off the ground. A company that fits the profile of “Never was, is not, and never will be,” Red 5’s initial staff of 100 was butchered down to 65 in 2008, after the company closed its Shanghai office.
Red 5 has confirmed that they have had another round of layoffs, leaving the company with a skeleton crew of just over 30 employees. Webzen, who you will remember took control of Archlord in the Western markets, invested in Red 5 back in 2008, over an MMOFPS that the developer was working on. It now appears that the title may never be released, and Red 5 has plans for another game.
This time, rather than a worldwide release, Red 5 will be “restructuring” and focusing on releasing an MMO in the Chinese market, although they are still claiming that the MMOFPS is not down and out yet, simply shelved until a further date. Haven’t heard that before.
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MMO Fallout 