Category: Firefall News

We are hearing various reports from several anonymous sources that major layoffs have occurred at Firefall’s Red 5 Studios. We do not know the amounts, or what will happen to the sci-fi MMO, but we’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

To say Firefall has had a long and controversy filled history would probably be an understatement. There was a time when developer Red 5 Studios seemed destined for a fate similar to that of Flagship Studios. But problem child founder Mark Kern was ousted, Chinese company The9 invested 20 million dollars, and perhaps most telling… Chris Whiteside was brought on to lead the studio and future development of Firefall.

Chris Whiteside, currently in attendance at this year’s ChinaJoy, has hinted that Firefall will be coming to PlayStation 4 (no word on XBox One, however). He reached out to Managing Editor Bill Murphy directly to let us know that it had been announced at Sony’s Press Conference. A press release should be forthcoming soon and we’ll keep you posted as the story develops.

Chris Whiteside is best known in the gaming industry as the former Lead Producer of ArenaNet on Guild Wars, then the Design Director for Guild Wars 2. After roughly five years, Chris decided to part with the Bellevue, Washington developer. He went into consultancy, but that only lasted a little bit as one of the companies he consulted for was Red 5 Studios, makers of hardpressed but excellent MMO Firefall.

The Firefall team has a new Design Director with the addition of former ArenaNet and Guild Wars developer Chris Whiteside. The notice was given on Whiteside’s personal Facebook page with his blessing to post the big news. Expect more from Red5 about Chris’s appointment and our own exclusive interview in the coming days.

Firefall players will have a lot to do when servers come back up from maintenance that will deploy the War in the Amazon update. Players will be taking on The Chosen in the Amazon basin and working cooperatively to retake bases, protect supply lines and more. To show off some of the new features, Red 5 has released a brand new trailer. Check it out!

The Firefall team has sent out the first image and information about February’s update. Players can look forward to a new level 40 PvE zone, a brand new reputation system and much more when the update goes live. The update is a work in progress and it on the public test server at the moment. The video below gives a good idea of what players can expect.

Firefall players will have plenty of opportunity to take part in the holiday themed Wintertide Event when it kicks off later today and continues through January 6th. During Wintertide, players can try their hand at Whack-an-Elf or take part in a grand melee snowball fight. Completing Wintertide events makes players eligible for some awesome gifts courtesy of special vendors in Copacabana, Dredge, and Kanaloa Research Station.

Red 5 has a new Chosen Offensive planned for Firefall players on December 7th. The offensive will be a developer-controlled event that will run from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. PST (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST) on Saturday. Players will be charged with defending themselves against waves of elite Chosen monsters all of which will be controlled by the development team themselves.

Red 5 Studios has announced the release of the latest and most significant update to Firefall. Called "Together Toward Victory", the patch features important PvP enhancements, new open world encounters, a special 5-player instance and more. It is a free update to all Firefal players.