A former Free Radical developer has claimed the studio were working on an expanded remake of Timesplitters 2 when they were shut down.
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Last week, it was confirmed that Free Radical Design would be closing down with immediate effect, with owners Embracer Group carrying out a fierce restructuring program.
Since the studio’s relaunch in 2021, it’d been working on the fourth installment in the beloved Timesplitters franchise “You asked us and we listened. We have been working on plans to bring the TimeSplitters franchise back to life,” parent company Embracer said at the time.
Details about the new title were kept secret, though many assumed the studio were working on a fourth installment in the series. In a new interview with fan project Free Radical Archive though, an annoymous developer has spoken about the development.
According to the developer, Free Radical’s new Timesplitters game started off as “Fortnite clone”.
“Nobody wanted that really, not even us, but we didn’t have much of a choice for a long time,” they said. The free-to-play battle royale was also set to include games like capture the flag and team deathmatch. “Characters and skins were microtransactions, at least that was the plan,” they continued before adding that they believed that for was just a way for studio co-founder Steve Ellie to get the project greenlit.
However, development on the project shifted earlier this year. “We did a massive 180 into a Timesplitters 2 Remake, with a few new/slightly changed levels and an alternate timeline story.” The game was also going to feature levels from the original Timesplitters game and 2005’s Future Perfect. “It was going to be a ‘What If…’ where Corporal Hart went through instead of Cortez so we could make things slightly different,” they said of the game’s narrative.
They claimed the game was still two years away from being finished. “As of this moment in time, it’s cancelled,” they continued. “Whether Plaion will try to have another studio in the future to give it a crack, I don’t know. But everyone at Free Radical got laid off. None of the people who worked on the project are still doing so.”
In other news, Activision Blizzard has settled its ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit with The California Civil Rights Department for $54million (£42million).
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