One of the co-founders of Free Radical Design has called it quits on resurrecting the TimeSplitters franchise after the Embracer Group slammed a lid on their current development.
Free Radical Design teased the gaming community when it started work on what is considered the return of the beloved TimeSplitters franchise from the early 2000s. However, the closures enforced by their parent company, Embracer Group, have nipped that resurgence in the bud before it could fully take shape.
Formerly Koch Media, Plaion, a member of the Embracer Group through an acquisition in 2018, had acquired the rights to TimeSplitters in that same year.
In an interview with GameIndustry.biz, Free Radical Design co-founder Steve Ellis revealed that he had personally approached Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Plaion, to propose a potential TimeSplitters project when he heard of the acquisition.
It turned out that Plaion wanted to use its newly acquired IP but didn’t know where to start.
Plaion immediately gave Ellis the funding and permission to start a new team to work on a prototype TimeSplitters game. This team worked through the challenges of COVID-19 and pitched a draft to Plaion, which immediately approved the creation of a new studio—the revived Free Radical Design—to work on the concept.
Ellis also revealed that they had worked on three different concepts, with the third and last being the one the team was excited about. He said that he felt that the team had arrived at a formula that perfectly balanced the preferences of the old and new generations of players.
“[I]t would have satisfied everyone,” he said.
The Free Radical Design co-founder admitted that they had felt safe from the Embracer closures when they were first announced. The Embracer Group’s public statements assured them that the closure criteria kept the TimeSplitters project off the radar.
As it turned out, not even they were spared the axe. With Free Radical Design shut down for the second time in December 2023, what does the future hold for TimeSplitters?
"It's probably the end of me being involved with TimeSplitters. I don't know what it would take to get me to want to go through all that again,” Ellis admitted.