Red 5 Studios will be joining Reddit in closing down their operations for a day on January 18th to show their united opposition to SOPA. Red 5 is currently holding a closed beta for Firefall, and upcoming open world multiplayer oriented shooter.
The beta and website will be shut down for a period of 24 hours on the 18th. The ESA mentioned in the above quote is the Entertainment Software Association, a group that has some of the world's largest game publishers as members (Microsoft, Sony, THQ, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Nintendo, Konami, EA, Capcom, and more). The ESA, as if you didn't already know, supports the passing of SOPA even if each member of the ESA does not.
Red 5 also stated that they refuse to attend E3 this year unless the ESA "reverses their stance."
Red 5 Studios is joining Reddit in protest of SOPA by going dark on January 18. We will be taking down our website, community site and Firefall beta for 24 hours on the 18th.
We are extremely disappointed in this misguided legislation. We are also ashamed of the ESA for supporting a bill which is clearly not in the best interests of gamers or the game industry.
This bill, and it's sister bill, Protect IP, will shut down live streaming, shout casting, user generated content and have a chilling effect on game innovation and social media.
Most of all, it hurts the smaller game companies, who will not have the legal resources or lobbying presence to protect themselves from unwarranted shutdown.
We issue a call to all our industry peers, including developers, publishers and game press, to join us in letting the ESA know they do not represent our views on this issue, and strongly oppose SOPA and PIPA.
-- via Mark Kern, Red 5 Studios
We are extremely disappointed in this misguided legislation. We are also ashamed of the ESA for supporting a bill which is clearly not in the best interests of gamers or the game industry.
This bill, and it's sister bill, Protect IP, will shut down live streaming, shout casting, user generated content and have a chilling effect on game innovation and social media.
Most of all, it hurts the smaller game companies, who will not have the legal resources or lobbying presence to protect themselves from unwarranted shutdown.
We issue a call to all our industry peers, including developers, publishers and game press, to join us in letting the ESA know they do not represent our views on this issue, and strongly oppose SOPA and PIPA.
-- via Mark Kern, Red 5 Studios
The beta and website will be shut down for a period of 24 hours on the 18th. The ESA mentioned in the above quote is the Entertainment Software Association, a group that has some of the world's largest game publishers as members (Microsoft, Sony, THQ, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Nintendo, Konami, EA, Capcom, and more). The ESA, as if you didn't already know, supports the passing of SOPA even if each member of the ESA does not.
Red 5 also stated that they refuse to attend E3 this year unless the ESA "reverses their stance."
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