It’s been a tough ol’ year for people working in the corporate video game world. Publishers and studios have been laying people off at an alarming rate. Embracer Group is just one example, and it’s recently been suggested that the holding company may be closing down Free Radical Design.
That’s according to sources who recently spoke to VGC. It seems that an email from Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors has confirmed that the TimeSplitters studio will be no more come December 11, “following the completion of a consultation process.”
At the time of writing, this has not been confirmed by the company. However, recent revelations that Embracer will be laying off hundreds of people suggests that Free Radical could well be for the chop.
No more TimeSplitters then?
Aside from the ongoing bleakness that is the current video game industry, seeing Free Radical go could well spell the end of a possible TimeSplitters revival. The series has been lying dormant for a long time and fans have been hoping to see a new entry, especially from the original developer.
Embracer Group is an enormous company with ownership over many video game developers and publishers, including THQ Nordic, Saber Interactive, Gearbox Entertainment, and Eidos-Montreal.
Around 900 jobs are expected to be lost during the restructuring, and rumors about Free Radical being shut down had been circulating. Essentially, if you’ve been holding out for a new TimeSplitters game, you might be out of luck. Unless another studio can take over it, but it may not be the same under a different team.
