Mark Kern

Mark E. Kern is a Taiwanese-American video game designer best known for being a team lead on the video game World of Warcraft and a founder of Red 5 Studios.[1]

Kern speaking at GDC 2011

Creation of Red 5 Studios

Kern left Blizzard in 2006 to co-found the development company Red 5 Studios. There he worked on the title Firefall before eventually leaving the company[2] after being voted out as CEO by the Red 5's board of directors.[3]

League For Gamers

In 2012, Kern started the League For Gamers in response to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act.[4][5] Kern said that the League For Gamers would stand as an advocacy group for the gaming community. He intended it to rival the Entertainment Software Association which focused more on publisher rights, in light of its support of SOPA. Red 5 Studios' website went offline on January 18 to draw attention to the legislation.[6]

EM-8ER

In 2016, Kern started a project on demand of fans, called EM-8ER (pronunciation: /ˈɛm.bəː/, Em-ber), a spiritual successor to his previous game Firefall. He created a company, called Crixa Labs LLC, that will release anything related to EM-8ER, like his tabletop role-playing game Gatestriders, set within the same universe. EM-8ER is a mini massively multiplayer online game set on the planet of the same name, where players control Gatestriders, humans with technological advancements such as their MEK suits and Thumper MEK/As. They fight against an ancient alien race called Tsi-hu and their giant Kaiju. The goal of the game is to build bases, terraform, mine for resources and fight invasions. The game is in its early stages, with some demo builds shown to backers, however, his team of developers are actively working on the game and the approximate time of alpha release will be known after Kickstarter.

Career history

References
  1. Edery, David (March 1, 2015). "Interview with Mark Kern (Red 5 Studios)" (Interview). Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  2. Olivetti, Justin (March 1, 2015). "Mark Kern Addresses His Departure from Red 5 Studios". Engadget. Archived from the original on September 10, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  3. Hornshaw, Phil (December 20, 2013). "Red 5 Board Votes Out Co-Founder Mark Kern As CEO". GameFront. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  4. Parrish, Kevin (January 18, 2012). "SOPA Drama Creates ESA Rival, the League For Gamers". Tom's Guide. Archived from the original on June 25, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  5. Usher, William (April 3, 2012). "League For Gamers Fights Against Video Game Warning Label Bill H.R. 4204". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  6. Lenhardt, Heinrich (January 17, 2012). "SOPA controversy creates rival to game industry group ESA; LFG aims to be "the NRA for gamers"". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2015.


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