You probably know who Mark Kern is if you are a World of Warcraft fan. He is the former lead designer of the WoW development team. Now he has his own company called Red 5 Studios, company that has just received some US$ 18 million to produce a new game.

According to a Reuters report, Mark Kern declared that his company, Red 5, will focus on developing original games for online game operators and distributors. They plan to create something similar to what Pixar did in the movie world with its animated films Toy Story and Finding Nemo.

Looks like Mark Ken can't stay away from MMOs, as his company is currently developing for Webzen for Korea. Webzen is financing the project themselves because they also plan to distribute it. This US$ 18.5 million was provided to Red 5 by Benchmark Capital and Sierra Ventures as they anticipate an increase in the online games market.

This funding comes as no surprise, as the online gaming market is getting bigger and bigger with each day that passes. Blizzard's World of Warcraft recently reached 7.5 million subscribers with Lineage II, Mu, Archlord trailing behind. What makes WoW different from other MMOs is the virtual community. This community hosts many WoW fans gatherings, encouraging them to be creative. Fans post artwork comic strips and stories which they share with other WoW enthusiasts.

WoW fans even have their own language, their own catch phrases, such as "You will melt faces as a Shadow Priest in PvP". I guess if you said that to your teacher or to your mom, they would probably send you to have your head examined.