Free-to-play jetpacking MMOFPS Firefall will enter open beta on July 9, developer Red 5 Studios announced today. It'll essentially be in a launch-ish state, with the in-game item store live and everything, but Red 5 wants more feedback and to give the servers a good testing before officially going live.

Watch: Pew pew, jet jet »

If you're looking for a new way to shoot faces this weekend, consider giving free-to-play shooter MMO Firefall a bash in its first proper public beta weekend. It's been running in a closed beta for a while, selling access and 'Founder' membership in tiers starting at $20, but all and sundry are allowed in over the weekend.

Watch: A pew-pewing new trailer »

Firefall developer Red 5 Studios and Shacknews are teaming up to offer readers 20 chances to get into the Firefall beta, with five lucky winners getting upgraded to Founders packs worth from $20 to $100. All you have to do to be eligible is to be as creative as possible in letting us know in the comments below why you should be selected. Here's the kicker: Do it in eight words, no more, no less.

Read more: Pack winners get a Merch pet »

Firefall has had a long road to release, but it seems like that journey is finally coming to a head. Red 5 Studios recently began monetizing the free-to-play game with Founders Packs, which grant a priority beta queue spot and tiered bonuses. The game's soft launch makes it seem ready for a full release, even if the development team is still keeping that timing close to the vest. In a guided, hands-off demo at PAX Prime, lead designer Scott Youngblood showed me around the newest features and explained the team's intent for its MMOFPS fusion.

Read more: Battleframe revisions and tech trees »

Firefall is getting its big summer update soon, and it's packing some large changes to classes. Red 5 Studios teased two of the largest changes, to the Engineer and Medic classes. For one thing, the Medic won't be called a Medic anymore, but rather a "Biotech."

Watch: Class 'sneak peek' trailers »

Plenty of game developers publicly expressed their opposition to SOPA and PIPA, but perhaps none quite so fiercely as Red 5 founder Mark Kern. His company pulled the beta in protest, canceled E3 plans, and launched a non-profit protest group called the "League for Gamers." Now that the controversial bills are effectively dead in the water, Kern has shared some thoughts on his motivation for such vocal opposition.

"If you hold an opinion that differs from the gamers, and you think that it will benefit them in the long run, that's okay," Kern said. "But the fact that you're not saying that to them, when you've enlisted their support in the past and are now completely unresponsive, I think that was disingenuous.

Read more: Kern "disappointed" with "wishy-washy" withdrawal »

With some notable websites having decided to "go dark" today to protest the possible passage of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA)--such as Reddit and Wikipedia--Firefall developer Red 5 Studios and its CEO, Mark Kern, have decided to take things a step further. They've formed a new entity called the "League For Gamers," a non-profit entity meant to stand up in opposition to potentially damaging initiatives like SOPA and PIPA.

Read more: The league of extraordinary... gamers? »

Firefall developer Red 5 Studios has notified Shacknews that it will shut down its upcoming title's beta and website for 24 hours beginning January 18 in protest of the 'Stop Online Piracy Act' (SOPA).

Calling SOPA "misguided legislation," Red 5 Studios CEO Mark Kern said the proposed bill would hurt smaller game companies, "who will not have the legal resources or lobbying presence to protect themselves from unwarranted shutdown."

Read more: 'Ashamed of the ESA for supporting this bill' »

Firefall--a game you may have seen us write about recently--has finally had its fifth battleframe revealed.

In a new trailer released today, Red 5 Studios has uncovered the secrets behind the 'Dreadnaught,' an extension of the 'assault' class with a focuses on heavy weaponry and damage absorption.

Watch: The skills of the Dreadnaught in action »

With Garnett Lee at a secret undisclosed location (called Portland), it's up to Jeff Cannata and Xav de Matos to carry the big show once again. This week, freelancer Billy Berghammer and Red 5 Studios founder and CEO Mark Kern join the party to discuss Red 5's Firefall, tell some World of Warcraft stories and discuss some more Dark Souls. Xav also spills the beans on a recent interview with THQ executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson, and talks about the future of Relic's Space Marine franchise and teases some hands-on with Saint's Row: The Third. We wrap it up with questions from the audience and finishing moves.

Listen: Episode Weekend Confirmed 82 »

Developer Red 5 Studios hopes to make the upcoming free-to-play shooter Firefall ready for the tournament scene. To do so, the company has hired Morgan "Rhoulette" Romine, founder of the Frag Dolls, Ubisoft's all-female professional gaming team. Romine visited the Shacknews offices to discuss her new role and what it means for players of Firefall.

"We have a lot of guys on the team who are former pro gamers," Romine told me in an interview last week. Her official title at Red 5 Studios is eSports Maven. She's extremely animated during our conversation, but it isn't nerves going from a team dedicated to game promotion to a new management role focused on an important element to the most dedicated game players, she's excited. "Everybody on the team takes competitive gaming really seriously," she admits.

Watch: Morgan Romine video interview »

"There's a big request for mustaches. We're going to hire a physics programmer just dedicated for mustaches, I think," Red 5 Studios founder and CEO Mark Kern joked during an interview last week at the Shacknews office.

It's impossible to ignore the explosion of attention Red 5 Studios' upcoming free-to-play shooter Firefall has received throughout the Shacknews community. After publishing our recent preview, Kern urged the Firefall forum community to jump into Chatty to discuss the game. In a few short days over 1,000 comments were made on the story.

A few days later, Kern was in the Shacknews office, sitting in front of a video camera under bright lights. In the ensuing interview, Kern detailed Firefall's story, outlined the game's business model, and more.

Watch: Video interview with Red 5 boss Mark Kern »

Red 5 founder and CEO Mark Kern visited the Shacknews office last week, bringing with him a handful of reveals for the upcoming free-to-play shooter Firefall. Today's revelation is that Firefall will feature pets, a familiar addition for MMOs but something rare in the shooter genre.

"One new feature that we're really excited about is introducing the new 'Pet' system into Firefall." Kern revealed to Shacknews. "I mean, when's the last time you heard about a shooter with pets?" Red 5's idea for the feature doesn't end there, however. "We had to had to do little things to actually make it interesting," he admitted.

Read more: Making pets unique in Firefall »

At PAX Prime 2011 it was difficult to ignore Firefall's presence. From the hulking statue in one of the hall's main foyers, to the huge floor space reserved to showcase the game in hands-on demos, developer Red 5's shooter was everywhere.

For the uninitiated, Firefall is an upcoming free-to-play, MMO shooter (playable in first- and third-person) from a developer helmed by a former team leader at a little outfit called Blizzard Entertainment. Sporting Player Versus Environment (PvE) and Player Versus Player (PvP), Firefall has a wealth of options for gamers to lose themselves in.

Read more: Firefall preview »

Red 5 Studios recently revealed that Firefall--the dev's upcoming multiplayer, persistent-world shooter--will extend its beta phase to include members of the Firefall community following PAX Prime 2011. For those interested in participating, Red 5 has outlined a few different ways to get into the beta.

Read more: How to get into the Firefall beta »