Prepare For Liftoff: Firefall Gets $23 Million, Not Doomed

When we last left promising yet embattled MMO-shooter Firefall, things had taken a turn for worrisome. Its PVP mode had gone down in flames, and CEO Mark Kern was given his walking papers/flying jetpacks at the end of 2013. Even with a solid core concept and admirable ambitions, the game had spent years tumbling all over the place in a wishy washy development cycle, and there was no "end" in sight. Meanwhile, Kern's departure signaled that change was afoot, but was it good change or a turn for the worse in an already twisty saga? Well, now we at least have something concrete to go on: Firefall has secured another $23 million in funding, and it will finally launch for real this year.

Developer Red 5 made the announcement on its website:

"This additional round of funding will offer us the means to execute on our plan for successfully launching Firefall in 2014. This is the year Firefall takes flight. The entire Red 5 tribe is focused on creating top quality content that will take Firefall to the next level and we are excited for this next stage of development."

In preparation for the big launch, Red 5 plans to add a new story-based PVE campaign about the Melding and Earth and things, and - after that - massive-scale open-world PVP. Apparently "whole armies" will light up the skies in hopes of putting on the ultimate fireworks show controlling new areas.

So that's what Firefall's 2014 will look like in a nutshell. Here's hoping these new features will get proper time to marinate, as opposed to being rushed into a long-overdue launch. Who's still on board with this one? Do you have high hopes for its eventual non-beta release?