Firefall, caught between life and death
Firefall is considered one of the most tragic MMO stories: a game that never quite found its direction, and was repeatedly embroiled in controversies: In 2012, it boycotted E3 for political reasons. Firefall was the baby of WoW progenitor Mark Kern, a reportedly uncomfortable figure. However, he was shot down relatively early on. But let’s start chronologically:
The mix of MMO and shooter, Firefall, was announced in 2010 as a Buy2Play title, later switching to a Free2Play model. The initial presentations in 2010 received much praise and sparked great hopes.
However, the open beta in 2013 brought significant issues. This was also when they parted ways with Mark Kern.
Between 2013 and 2015, they kept tinkering with Kern’s systems, which was frequently criticized by fans. It seemed that the game had lost its direction.
Then, in 2015, there was the launch in China, which the team had high hopes for. Unfortunately, this launch was so disappointing that it led to the layoff of 20 percent of the development studio.
But that was still not chaotic enough. Later, Firefall simply went offline one day, becoming inaccessible. Forums and the game: Black, for several hours. Players suspected that the game was now finished. But then it came back online, and players expected a statement from the team. However, they said nothing about it.
From then on, Firefall was in a state somewhere between alive and dead. In the summer of 2017, the announcement came that Firefall would end – The servers are closing.
Mark Kern wants to implement the original vision he had with the game after Firefall’s end and has initiated Em-8er an indie project, in which Firefall should live on.
What happens when a companion game is suddenly launched, you will find out on page 3.
