Wesley Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 Shame. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/free-radical-design-latest-to-face-financial-trouble
gaggle64 Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 A part of my glorious adolescence has died today.
CoolFunkMan Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 FuckingfuckingfuckingFUUUCCK!!! My day today's been really shit as it is, now I hear this. Seriously, it just can't get any worse now!!
D_prOdigy Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 Yes well, not to mention some thoughts should probably be saved for the employees who will be out of a job this Christmas. This kind of news is always pretty tragic, it's just this one was relatively unexpected.
Aimless Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 Seriously, it just can't get any worse now!! You could play Haze.
ShadowV7 Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 Wow. I did not see this coming, out of the blue. Hope the guys who are out of a job this Christmas get one sometime soon. What a horrid Christmas.
tapedeck Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 Come on Nintendo...Gobble David Doak up...
Wesley Posted December 18, 2008 Author Posted December 18, 2008 Quite unexpected. Apparently losing the LucasArts deal (wasn't it already being worked on though? Maybe it wasn't up to scratch) is what did it, along with Haze. Seems quite strange because they did seem pretty solid. If the LucasArts project was currently been worked on though, then if it was taken away surely that's some kind of contract being broken?
Aimless Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 By the sounds of it Free Radical had in the realm of 250 staff before the locks were changed. I'd say chances are high that around 40 of them will crop up again as a new studio very soon; the executives leave and cherry pick from the staff, basically. Apparently David Doak left around a month ago, so... Obviously this sucks for the people losing their jobs — especially a week before Christmas! — but whatever company rises from Free Radical's ashes will probably be a much leaner, better managed business. And, freed from the lineage of Haze (which was depressingly average for many reasons), perhaps they can get another chance. Not good for those that have been laid off, but ultimately this might be a positive step for gamers.
Jimbob Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 Darn it. Its a pity that such a talented developer has to close its doors. Unexpected as well, thought they were doing pretty good for themselves and all that.
Ganepark32 Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 ^ not really. It was a specific LucasArt property they were working on so they called the shots and not Free Radical. It's gone to the guys who did the most recent Battlefront title that was a PSP exclusive anyways. Really does suck that they're shutting shop. Condolences to everyone. The Timesplitters series will be picked up by someone though because it's too good to fade into memory. These guys could well create their own studio and work on it there. We'll have to wait and see/hear as we still have to have the official statement on this from Free Radical.
flameboy Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 well gutted to hear this although if David Doak has indeed left then its perhaps for the best...otherwise they may not beb quite the same company. Still bad for the limbo it leaves Timesplitters in.
flameboy Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 shacknews reports a slightly different version of events; TimeSplitters, Haze Dev. Free Radical Not Closed Yet, But Bankrupt by Maarten Goldstein Dec 18, 2008 11:41am CST tags: Free Radical Design, Rumor, TimeSplitters 4, Haze Haze Update: Free Radical has not closed, but has instead gone into administration, which will allow the company to continue operating despite an inability to pay its debts. "It's business as usual, although we have asked that almost all of the employees apart from a skeleton crew remain at home," Cameron Gunn, an employee of administration firm Resolve Partners, told local newspaper This Is Nottingham. All of Free Radical's 185 employees have been paid through the end of December. The studio hopes to make an announcement regarding its fate later this month, following an analysis of its "financial position" by Resolve Partners. Along with TimeSplitters 4, rumors suggest Free Radical was working on Star Wars: Battlefront III for LucasArts, with some claiming that the title has since been moved to Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron developer Rebellion. Original Story: According to a report by GamesIndustry.biz and numerous other sources, UK developer Free Radical Design is closing its doors. The company behind the popular TimeSplitters series most recently released the critical and commercial failure Haze, a PlayStation 3-exclusive action game. Above, Haze (PS3) Though studio director Steve Ellis told GI.biz last month that "Nothing unusual is happening here" and "we certainly won't be laying off any staff today. Or, for that matter, any time in 2008," that is apparently what has happened. According to today's story, staff still at the company were met by locked doors and instructions to go to a nearby hotel for a final company meeting. Prior to the studio's closure, Free Radical was working on TimeSplitters 4. Thanks to Shacker Granf for the link to This Is Nottingham's report.
Dante Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 taken from Egde Online: A source close to staff at Free Radical Design told Edge on Thursday that the developer has shut its doors--and changed the locks--just before the Christmas holiday. "Staff arrived for work this morning to find the locks had been changed and notices on the doors advising them to attend a meeting at a nearby Novotel [a hotel chain] at 12 noon today," said the source, who preferred anonymity and worked with Free Radical in better times. "Heavy duty security staff was patrolling the buildings." "...I think they're all a bit shell-shocked." The studio employed around 150-200 staff, the tipster said. "After the poor reviews of Haze and subsequent loss of a contract with LucasArts, [Free Radical was] struggling to find publishers to back the long-awaited TimeSplitters 4 and other smaller projects and were left with no choice but to pull the plug." Free Radical was founded in 1999 by former Rare developers including David Doak, Steve Ellis, Graeme Norgate and Karl Hilton, who created games including Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark. Free Radical also created the aforementioned TimeSplitters series of games. The independent studio had a publishing deal with LucasArts on the unannounced Star Wars Battlefront III, a deal that fell through in October after about two years of development, the source said. "[Free Radical] was relying on Lucas for further contracts which had been promised in some sort of exclusivity deal. Obviously that all went down the pan." Perhaps the worst news for fans of the studio is the demise of TimeSplitters 4. "They had already started working on TimeSplitters 4, and had been for over a year, but due to the failure of Haze and the deal falling through with Lucas, they couldn't get a publisher to back them. They had a last ditch attempt last week down South somewhere, but it came to nothing so I think that was the last hope." The source claimed that the company "didn't treat their staff well at all." Rumors of a closure were circulating within the company for "a few weeks." "People have been leaving in droves due to lack of security, poor treatment of staff, better offers and guaranteed work from other local developers such as Monumental Games and one in Derby whose name escapes me [Rebellion and Core Design both have Derby locations--ed.]." Doak reportedly "officially" left the company early this month, and Ellis has set up another company called Pumpkin Beach, which already has a placeholder website registered under his name. The two are reportedly working on this project together and will "hand pick" Free Radical staff to join them. The source also said that despite the looming closure, the company still held a big Christmas party last week and gave staff a week's pay as a Christmas bonus. Attempts to contact Free Radical have been unsuccessful. After the meeting Later on Thursday, our source updated us with more inside information from the Free Radical staff meeting that took place at a hotel near the studio. Apparently, Free Radical knew the urgency of its situation six months ago. Co-founder Ellis was "visibly upset" when he talked to the staff, the source said. "[He] told staff how very sorry he was and they'd been doing all they could, working flat-out to either find a publisher or a buyer over the past six months, but no offers were made. There have been several visits to the States, but to no avail." About 20 staff members were offered positions, possibly with Ellis' new venture, Pumpkin Beach, although this is yet to be confirmed. The rest of the employees were told in a separate room that they would be laid off. Staff had reportedly been paid to the end of December, but are not expected to receive any further compensation "as there was nothing left to give." Reps from U.K. game makers Codemasters and Monumental Games were at the hotel after the meeting asking for CVs and applications from former Free Radical staffers.
Cube Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 Hang on...nobody wanted to publish TimeSplitters 4? WTF?
Ramar Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 It's shocking, Free Radical are a great studio. Maybe some of their recent work hasn't been up to scratch, but they've made some great games. Another sad point is that they often advertise to undergraduates, I've seen quite a few posters around my uni by them. So if they do go completely bust then thats another avenue for people like me closed. Should the government put some money into them? I remember reading a while back that the government here thought that they weren't doing enough to improve the development of digital media in the uk. Would it be stupid to suggest the government could invest in the company to keep it afloat. Or am I talking shit here.
flameboy Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 It's shocking, Free Radical are a great studio. Maybe some of their recent work hasn't been up to scratch, but they've made some great games. Another sad point is that they often advertise to undergraduates, I've seen quite a few posters around my uni by them. So if they do go completely bust then thats another avenue for people like me closed. Should the government put some money into them? I remember reading a while back that the government here thought that they weren't doing enough to improve the development of digital media in the uk. Would it be stupid to suggest the government could invest in the company to keep it afloat. Or am I talking shit here. Well its what they did with the Banks and now look set to do with the car industry (well has been suggested they should/could), but both of those industries collapsing means a lot more to the country owing to their obviously large scale. Unfortunately in this economical climate I find it very unlikely the government can afford to bail out such companies as Free Radical.
dwarf Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 If Ubisoft take over Free Radical's licenses I will eat my own balls.
Deathjam Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 If Ubisoft take over Free Radical's licenses I will eat my own balls. As gay as it may sound, I woul pay good money to see that
ViPeR Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 They should have just stuck TS2 and 3 onto XBLA. That would've solved their problems.
Wesley Posted December 18, 2008 Author Posted December 18, 2008 I have to agree with Ramar it's a blow to people trying to break into the industry. They were pretty friendly to university students with advertisements. At the end of the day: another blow for British games.
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