Resurrected TimeSplitters developers Free Radical Design could be the next Embracer-owned studio to be shuttered, according to recent reports. The rumoured closure comes just two years after the veteran British label were resurrected by their original founders to work on a new TimeSplitters game.
Free Radical staff were told that the studio could face closure after being evaluated as part of Embracer’s ongoing restructuring efforts, according to sources “close” to the studio speaking to Video Games Chronicle.
According to the report, the studio may remain open if they are acquired by a third party, with employees in the process of a consultation period that must last at least 30 days – as required by UK law – to try and avoid layoffs before any redundancies are made. Embracer was recently reported to be seeking a buyer for Borderlands makers Gearbox.
This iteration of Free Radical Design isn’t the same as the original studio behind the TimeSplitters franchise and other games including Second Sight and Haze, who went bankrupt in 2008 before being picked by Crytek the following year. That studio later changed hands to Deep Silver, becoming Homefront: The Revolution and Dead Island 2 devs Dambuster Studios.
Instead, Free Radical Design as they stand now emerged under Embracer in early 2021, headed up by original Free Radical founders Steve Ellis and David Doak. At the time, Free Radical announced they were working on a new TimeSplitters game, which has not been detailed further or shown since.
While Free Radical’s closure and layoffs are yet to be confirmed, VGC noted that over a dozen staff have said they are looking for work via social media within the last day. Among the staff seeking new roles are a lead game designer, senior artists and more.
Embracer, Plaion – the division of the megacorp responsible for Free Radical – and the studio themselves are all yet to comment on the report.
The news comes just days after Embracer confirmed layoffs at Star Trek Online developers Cryptic Studios, following further job losses at MythForce developers Beamdog, Tomb Raider owner Crystal Dynamics, Gearbox and Pinball FX devs Zen Studios earlier in the year.
Over the summer, Embracer closed veteran Saints Row devs Volition and story-driven RPG studio Campfire Cabal, which had been founded less than a year earlier.
The ongoing wave of layoffs under Embracer join wider losses across the video game industry throughout 2023. Thousands of devs and other staff have been cut from platform holders PlayStation and Microsoft, major publishers including Epic, and notable developers such as Bungie, BioWare, CD Projekt Red, Frontier and Creative Assembly.
