TimeSplitters studio Free Radical Design has closed, employees say: 'We join an ever-growing list of casualties in a broken industry'
pcgamer.comIt appears that, as first rumored in November, TimeSplitters studio Free Radical Design has been closed. The studio's website has been scrubbed and now bears a simple message saying «404 Company not found :(,» while multiple employees have said that today was their last day.
Free Radical was originally founded in 1999 by ex-Rare developers, the creators of GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark. Free Radical found success with its quirky shooter series TimeSplitters, which debuted in 2000 as a PlayStation 2 launch title, with further sequels in 2002 and 2005. Although it never appeared on PC, TimeSplitters is held up as an underrated shooter of that era, with a funny campaign, arcadey shooting built on its GoldenEye pedigree, and a decent little map editor, for a PS2 game.
Free Radical closed its doors in 2014, several years after being acquired by Crytek. It was "reformed" by the Swedish holding company Embracer Group under its Deep Silver division in 2021 to make a new TimeSplitters, but the failure of a $2 billion investment deal earlier this year resulted in multiple layoffs and studio closures at Embracer.
Rumors of Free Radical's "potential closure" were reported in late November, leaving open the possibility that the studio might be saved by a new owner, but that apparently didn't come to pass.
«As the sun sets on my last day at Free Radical Design, I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to collaborate both with industry legends and with emerging talents who will no doubt shape the future of the industry,» Free Radical QA manager Kevin Ellis wrote on LinkedIn. «Free Radical Design was a hub of creativity, but sadly, we join an ever-growing list of casualties in a broken industry where entire studios are treated as
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