Red 5 Staff Weren’t Paid Last Week, Studio Suffered Lay-offs

Firefall developer Red 5 was unable to pay its staff on Christmas Day, Kotaku reports. 

The developer missed payroll last week according to several sources at the studio, which is based in Irvine, California. Staff at the studio are expecting to be made redundant, with several employees laid off last week following the axing of 40 team members in November. 

Red 5 usually pays staff every second Friday but was unable to do so on December 25th.

Several employees have told Kotaku that they received the following letter:

Hi Team,

I regret to inform you that Red5 currently does not have the funds necessary to meet our payroll scheduled for today Friday, December 25. Due to this, there will not be payroll paid this week.

Red5 and The9, our parent company, is currently working to resolve this, during the holidays, as soon as possible. We are hopeful we’ll be able to resolve this and will update the team immediately.

Red 5 was founded in 2005 by former Blizzard employees and has had a rocky history, with several founding staffers being ousted. Chinese company The9 acquired a majority stake in Red 5 in 2010.

The studio has not yet responded to requests for comment.