Free Radical Design Ltd. was a Britishvideo game developer based inNottingham. Founded byDavid Doak, Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton andGraeme Norgate inStoke-on-Trent in April 1999, it is best known for itsTimeSplitters series of games.[2]
 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | April 1999; 26 years ago (1999-04) (original)[1] May 2021; 4 years ago (2021-05) (revival) |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 3 February 2009; 16 years ago (2009-02-03) (original) 11 December 2023; 16 months ago (2023-12-11) (revival) |
| Headquarters | , England |
Key people |
|
| Products | TimeSplitters |
Number of employees | 50+ (2022) |
| Parent |
|
| Website | www |
After going into financial administration, it was announced on 3 February 2009 that the studio had been acquired by German video game developerCrytek and would be renamedCrytek UK.[3] Crytek had a good relationship with the city of Nottingham due in part to its sponsorship of theGamecity festival and its recruitment drives withNottingham Trent University.[4] In 2014, the studio was closed, with a majority of the staff transferred to the newly formedDambuster Studios.[5][6]
In May 2021, two of the original founders, Doak and Ellis, reformed Free Radical Design underDeep Silver to create a new entry in theTimeSplitters series. Two years later, the second iteration was shut down on 11 December 2023.
History
editMost of Free Radical Design's initial employees previously worked for the game developerRare. While at Rare, they (David Doak, Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton,Graeme Norgate, Lee Ray and James Cunliffe) worked on theNintendo 64first-person shootersGoldenEye 007 andPerfect Dark. From late 1998 to early 1999, this team left Rare to form Free Radical Design, which was established in April 1999, their first release beingTimeSplitters for thePlayStation 2 in 2000. It was known for its very fast-paced gameplay and its particular emphasis onmultiplayer rather than story.[2]TimeSplitters attracted attention at the time because of the former Rare employees' work on the critically acclaimedGoldenEye 007. Its sequel,first-person shooterTimeSplitters 2, released with critical acclaim in 2002.
Free Radical Design was working onStar Wars: Battlefront III from 2006 to 2008, but it was cancelled by their publishing partner when it was supposedly "99 percent" complete.[7] The cancellation of this title, and the poorly received release ofHaze, contributed to Free Radical Design going into bankruptcy.[1] In late 2008, Free Radical Design was approached byActivision to work onaGoldenEye 007 remake. Although the studio rebuilt the Dam Level for thePlayStation 3 andXbox 360, negotiations fell through, with the studio entering administration soon afterwards.[1] Theremake would release on those consoles without FRD's involvement in 2011 as anenhanced port of its original release on theWii andNintendo DS a year prior.
On 18 December 2008, it was reported that the studio had shut down,[8] though it was later confirmed that the company had gone bankrupt,[9] leaving only 40 of the original 185 staff still employed.[10] On 3 February 2009, theHaze scriptwriter, Rob Yescombe, announced that Free Radical Design had been purchased by the German developerCrytek.[11] In 2010, the company moved from Sandiacre to brand-new offices in the new central Nottingham Southreef development. The £50 million investment would then have allowed Crytek UK to "grow over the next few months".[4]
Financial problems and closure
editIn June 2014, reports surfaced that Crytek had missed wage payments and withheld bonuses, that a number of employees had filedgrievances and refused to report to work, and that at least 30 employees had left since 2011 alone due to a decreasingmorale. After denying that there were problems, Crytek said on 25 July 2014 that it was in a "transitional phase" as it securedcapital for future projects, with an emphasis on online gaming.[12][13]
On 30 July 2014, Crytek announced that, due to an internal restructuring, it would sell the intellectual property ofHomefront (the sequel for which, later restructured as the rebootHomefront: The Revolution, was in development at Crytek UK at the time) toKoch Media, parent company of video game publisherDeep Silver, and lay off much of the company's staff. Crytek left it unclear whether the company had been shut down entirely, however all staff were transferred to the newDambuster Studios being established in Nottingham in accordance withBritish law,[14] where they afterwards continued to work onHomefront: The Revolution.[5][15][16]
Reformation and second closure
editIn May 2021,Embracer Group announced during their 2020–2021 full-year report that Free Radical Design would be reformed as a subsidiary ofDeep Silver with the intent of bringing "the much-lovedTimeSplitters IP back to life".[17] Key original members of the original Free Radical Design were involved in the reformation including founders Steve Ellis and David Doak. Their studio was based in Nottingham.[18]
In November 2023,VGC reported that the company was set to be closed down on 11 December by the Embracer Group, which had been restructuring its company and subsidiaries for the last six months, unless a third-party buyer was found.[19] Developers confirmed the closure on 11 December.[20]
Games developed
editAs Free Radical Design (1999–2008)
edit| Year | Game | Publisher(s) | Genre(s) | Platform(s) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GCN | Win | PS2 | PS3 | Xbox | ||||||||
| 2000 | TimeSplitters | Eidos Interactive | First-person shooter | No | No | Yes | No | No | ||||
| 2002 | TimeSplitters 2 | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | ||||||
| 2004 | Second Sight | Codemasters | Action-adventure,stealth | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ||||
| 2005 | TimeSplitters: Future Perfect | Electronic Arts | First-person shooter | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | ||||
| 2008 | Haze | Ubisoft | No | No | No | Yes | No | |||||
As Crytek UK (2009–2014)
edit| Year | Game | Publisher(s) | Genre(s) | Platform(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | PS3 | X360 | ||||
| 2011 | Crysis 2 | Electronic Arts | First-person shooter | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Crysis (port) | No | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2013 | Crysis 3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2014 | Warface | Microsoft Studios | No | No | Yes | |
Cancelled games
editReferences
edit- ^abcStanton, Rich (4 May 2012)."Free Radical vs. the Monsters".Eurogamer.Gamer Network. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^abHwang, Kaiser (June 2007). "Free Radical: The Face That Launched A Thousand Games".PlayStation Magazine. No. 66.
- ^McWhertor, Michael (3 February 2009)."Crytek Buys Free Radical".Kotaku.Gizmodo Media Group. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^abThis is Nottingham (27 October 2009)."Gaming firm Crytek to be first tenant at Nottingham's Southreef".Nottingham Post.Local World. Archived fromthe original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved5 July 2019.
- ^abSarkar, Samit (30 July 2014)."Deep Silver buys Homefront from Crytek, moves Homefront: The Revolution to new studio".Polygon.Vox Media. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^Sarkar, Samit (30 July 2014)."Homefront: The Revolution devs to move to Deep Silver as Crytek scales back two studios".Polygon.Vox Media. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^Makuch, Eddie (30 November 2012)."Battlefront 3 was 99 percent done when canceled".GameSpot.CBS Interactive. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^Graft, Kris (18 December 2008)."Source: Free Radical Locked Up".Edge.Future Publishing. Archived fromthe original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^This is Nottingham (18 December 2008)."185 jobs at risk at computer games company".Nottingham Post.Local World. Archived fromthe original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^Purchese, Robert (22 December 2008)."Admin confirms Free Radical demise".Eurogamer.Gamer Network. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^Boyes, Emma (3 February 2009)."Crytek Purchases Free Radical, Says Company Scriptwriter".1UP.com.IGN Entertainment. Archived fromthe original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^Hilliard, Kyle (3 July 2014)."[Update] Staff at Homefront Developer Crytek UK Not Reporting To Work".Game Informer.GameSpot.Archived from the original on 18 August 2014. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^Makuch, Eddie (24 June 2014)."Report: 30+ Staff Have Left Crytek UK Since 2011, Morale is "Low"".GameSpot.CBS Interactive. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^Futter, Mike (30 July 2014)."[Update] Deep Silver Buys Homefront, UK Staff To Transfer To New Dambuster Studio, Crytek USA Scaled Back".Game Informer.CBS Interactive.Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^Pereira, Chris (30 July 2014)."Crytek Lays Off Staff After Selling Homefront; Crytek UK May Be Shut Down".GameSpot.CBS Interactive. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^Pereira, Chris (30 July 2014)."Crytek No Longer Developing Homefront, Sells Rights to Publisher Deep Silver".GameSpot.CBS Interactive. Retrieved28 April 2017.
- ^"20/21 Full Year Report"(PDF).Embracer Group. 20 May 2021. p. 3. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 20 October 2021. Retrieved24 May 2021.
- ^Dring, Christopher (20 May 2021)."TimeSplitters studio Free Radical Design reforms with original founders".Gamesindustry.biz.Gamer Network. Retrieved20 May 2021.
- ^Robinson, Andy (28 November 2023)."Embracer CEO confirms TimeSplitters studio faces closure before Christmas".Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved28 November 2023.
- ^Robinson, Andy (11 December 2023)."Free Radical closure confirmed as TimeSplitters developers bemoan 'broken industry'".Video Games Chronicle. Archived fromthe original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved11 December 2023.