Red 5 Hires Tribes 2, Majestic Designer YoungbloodRed 5 Hires Tribes 2, Majestic Designer Youngblood

Independent MMO developer Red 5 Studios has announced that game designer Scott Youngblood (Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, Tribes 2, Majestic) is the latest design veteran hired by the studio, with a new role in an "undisclosed position." Youngblood comes to Red 5 from Sony Computer Entertainment America, where he most recently acted as lead multiplayer designer on the PSP original Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. Previous to that, Youngblood was lead designer on StarSiege: Tribes and acclaimed multiplayer title Tribes 2 as well as Electronic Arts' groundbreaking alternate-reality game Majestic. Youngblood also joins, the company notes, a number of design veterans at Red 5, including Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 and 3.5 creative director Ed Stark, and collectible card game designer David Williams, best known for his work on CCGs Legend of the Five Rings, Doomtown, and the City of Heroes CCG. Red 5, first founded in late 2005 is made up of a number of World of Warcraft veterans including team leader Mark Kern (whom Gamasutra spoke to earlier this year), art director William Petras, and Blizzard Korea operations lead Taewon Yun. Though little has yet been revealed of their forthcoming MMO project, the company announced late last year that it had secured $18.5 million in venture capital from Benchmark Capital and Sierra Ventures, and would be partnering on the Project Offset powered product with Korean publisher Webzen. "Scott is exactly the caliber of team member we're looking for at Red 5," said Mark Kern, president and CEO of Red 5 Studios. "We founded this company on passion and vision, two qualities that Scott has embodied throughout his career as a top-tier game designer. Scott's vision directly complements ours, and we're excited about having him join our growing team."