Mark Kern

Early life and education

Mark Kern attended college at the University of Rochester, earning a Bachelor of Arts in cognitive science in 1992. He earned a Juris Doctorate from Boston University School of Law in 1995, where he specialized in intellectual property and was a co-founder of the university's Journal of Science and Technology Law.

Career

Blizzard Entertainment

Kern joined Blizzard Entertainment in 1997, initially serving as an Associate Producer for Starcraft. His roles expanded to include Producer of StarCraft 64, Producer of Diablo II, and Team Lead for World of Warcraft. Kern departed Blizzard in 2005.

Red 5 Studios

In 2005, Kern co-founded the game development company Red 5 Studios alongside three other former Blizzard employees. He played a significant role in the development of the game Firefall and became CEO of the company in 2008.

Controversies and departure from Red 5 Studios

Kern faced allegations of overspending on promotional campaigns for Firefall. Notably, he devised a marketing strategy involving a Firefall-themed e-sports bus intended as both a mobile promotional tool and a server for LAN competitions during the game's beta phase. The project, estimated at $3 million, also included the establishment of a dedicated video production team with costly equipment. Red 5 employees described Kern as being prone to extended absences and having an "erratic, impulsive, and very disruptive" leadership style.

In 2013, Kern was removed from his position as CEO of Red 5 Studios by the board of directors. He referred to his time at the company as his own "Kobayashi Maru".

MEK Entertainment and later work

Kern founded the studio MEK Entertainment in 2014. The company raised $1 million in seed funding for an Oculus Rift virtual reality MMO.

In 2016, Kern began seeking crowdfunding for Em-8er, a "spiritual successor" to Firefall. Kern did an interview with YouTuber Upper Echelon in Sept 2024, claiming that about 600K has been raised so far for Em-8er.

Online activism and later activity

In response to the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act in 2012, Kern initiated a lobbying group named League4Gamers.

In 2016, Kern became involved in the Nostalrius petition to convince Blizzard to consider reviving vanilla servers for World of Warcraft. Following the Blitzchung controversy in which a Hong Kong eSports player was penalized by Blizzard for voicing support of the Hong Kong anti-national security law protests during a Blizzard streaming event in 2019, Kern quit playing World of Warcraft and called for a boycott of Blizzard.

Kern has been involved in right-wing activist causes. During the online backlash and criticism against the Canadian narrative development studio Sweet Baby Inc. around unsubstantiated claims of "forcing" diversity, Kern railed against efforts to increase awareness of diversity and related progressive causes in March 2024.

References

References

1. "Mark Kern".
2. "1994–1995 Editorial Board".
3. (2000). "StarCraft 64". [[Nintendo]].
4. (20 December 2013). "Firefall dev Red 5 replaces CEO". [[Vox Media]].
5. (November 5, 2018). "Diablo 2 Producer: 'Blizzard Doesn't Understand Gamers Anymore'".
6. Remo, Chris. (2007-04-18). "Red 5 Studios' Mark Kern and Scott Youngblood".
7. Williatham, Atle. (2016-04-18). "Former World of Warcraft Team Lead to take Vanilla server petition to Blizzard".
8. Edery, David. (March 1, 2015). "Interview with Mark Kern (Red 5 Studios)".
9. Custer, C.. (December 29, 2013). "The rise and fall of Mark Kern: how one man may have doomed Firefall and The9". [[Tech in Asia]].
10. (December 20, 2013). "Red 5 Studios Employees Speak Out Against Dismissed CEO".
11. Hornshaw, Phil. (December 20, 2013). "Red 5 Board Votes Out Co-Founder Mark Kern As CEO". [[GameFront]].
12. (September 22, 2014). "Mark Kern starts new studio, raises $1M for VR MMO". [[Engadget]].
13. (September 11, 2024). "We Need to Talk About GRUMMZ - Accountability in Gaming".
14. Gaudiosi, John. (January 18, 2012). "League For Gamers Founder Mark Kern Explains Why SOPA and PIPA Are Bad for the Videogame Industry".
15. Parrish, Kevin. (January 18, 2012). "SOPA Drama Creates ESA Rival, the League For Gamers". [[Tom's Guide]].
16. Usher, William. (April 3, 2012). "League For Gamers Fights Against Video Game Warning Label Bill H.R. 4204". CinemaBlend.
17. (April 22, 2016). "Vanilla WoW petition hits 200K signatures, invokes Mark Kern". Massively Overpowered.
18. (October 11, 2019). "Mark Kern didn't just quit WoW Classic: He accused his old Firefall studio of Chinese corruption". Massively Overpowered.
19. (October 31, 2019). "After layoffs and a PR disaster, some Blizzard employees are dreading BlizzCon". Los Angeles Times.
20. (March 6, 2024). "Sweet Baby Inc. Doesn't Do What Some Gamers Think It Does". [[Kotaku]].
21. (March 16, 2024). "More games now include diverse characters, so losers are trying to start 'Gamergate 2'". MobileSyrup.