It's not an unfamiliar story, but one that may explain why the former TimeSplitters devs faltered with Haze. Free Radical co-founder Karl Hilton, now at new home Crytek UK, explains to Develop how "technical issues" affected the final product.

"We hit a few stumbling blocks on it that meant we spent more time trying get the game running properly and less time to design the game properly," Hilton says, lamenting that Haze "wasn't the game it should have been."

Hilton's still up on the PS3, though, despite Haze's critical and commercial performance. He calls Sony's platform a "powerful machine but a difficult one to get the best out of."

And believe it or not, his new employers will get the best out of it, Hilton says.

"We know the PS3 can do amazing things, and no one has pushed it as far as it can go, but I think the CryEngine gives us a great head start on it," he says.

Blame the hardware, if you want. Blame the developer if that makes you feel any better. Me? I'm blaming Korn.

Crytek's new free radicals [Develop via Joystiq]

Crytek purchased the TimeSplitters developer in February, following a period of reorganizing that resulted in the layoff of 140 employees. In an interview with Develop, CEO Cevat Yerli explains that Crytek was picked to purchase the failing Free Radical because they offered the remaining staff the opportunity to create the sort of games they've always wanted to create.

"We are working with Free Radical on things that they always dreamed to do" Yerli said. "We are providing the team a roadmap and the chance to grow, which is why we were picked as a partner, and not anyone else."

Hopefully those dreams include finishing TimeSplitters 4.

Crytek giving Free Radical ‘dream projects' [Develop]

A condition of the purchase is that, as they are assimilated into Crytek's (the studio's buyers) European mainframe, Free Radical will no longer be known as Free Radical. They'll be known as Crytek UK.

Sure, it's naught but a name change. It'll still be made up of the same guys, and - provided they don't go and do something stupid like pitch Haze 2 - they'll probably come up with some excellent, excellent games.

But as has happened before with Westwood (EA), Psygnosis (SCE Liverpool) and Origin (EA, again), as soon as the developers are brought into a larger fold and lose that name, that identity, we lose a little something as well. A little of that recognition, a little of that intangible continuity that gives certain developers a certain pedigree.

Ah well! Now that's out of our system, it could be worse. We could have lost the whole damn studio, and that just wouldn't have been good for anyone.

Free Radical to be rebranded Crytek UK [VG247]

According to 1UP, Free Radical scriptwriter Rob Yescombe confirmed the purchase of Free Radical by the developers of Far Cry and Crysis, saying that the decade-old company "is now out of the woods."

Free Radical closed its doors in December, rather surprisingly to some, as employees showed up to locked doors and subsequent mass "redundancies."

The studio's closure led to details on two of its projects, Star Wars Battlefront III and TimeSplitters 4, being leaked far and wide.

We just hope that the company is truly out of the woods. And by that, we mean having foregone any delusions of a Haze sequel.

Crytek Purchases Free Radical, Says Haze Scriptwriter [1UP]

Free Radical went into administrator late last year, following several canceled projects and the dismal performance of their PlayStation 3 exclusive, Haze, earlier in 2008. After laying off a large percentage of the developer's staff, administration firm ReSolve Partners began offering the company for sale, indicating strong interest from multiple parties. Now ReSolve readies an official announcement for Wednesday, February 4th, when we'll find out what has come of said strong interest.

With the fate of at least one extremely compelling property on the line, we'll be waiting with bated breath for Wednesday's announcement. Stay tuned!

Fate of Free Radical Design to be decided this week [GamesIndustry.biz]

A recent glimpse into the unpublished works of a now-defunct game developer shows us one such universe which includes fabled Star Wars good guy Obi-Wan Kenobi, corrupted and evil.

In the original concept art for the unannounced, but long-rumored-to-exist video game Star Wars Battlefront III, we get a chance to wonder what could have been had Obi-Wan Kenobi fallen to the temptations of the Dark Side.

The images, leaked by a former developer at Free Radical, show a yellow-eyed, hunched form in the tattered remnants of the robe made famous by Alec Guinness. His hands are gnarled and claw-like, his light saber not a heroic blue, but a malignant red.

Traditionally, George Lucas has always approved any change to Star Wars canon, though it's unclear if this rumored idea would have changed canon or created a new one. But it does make this particular tidbit far more interesting than your average leaked game designs. Maybe Lucas is playing around with the idea of flipping his beloved, Wookiee-packed universe on its head.

While UK-based Free Radical certainly isn't the only game developer on the chopping block thanks to a wobbly world-wide economy, the video game industry as a whole seems to be relatively healthy.

In 2008 the industry raked in an estimated $21.3 billion dollars in the U.S. alone, according to the latest numbers released by the NPD Group this week.

That's more than double the take of the industry back in 2005, when it was barely scratching at $10.5 billion's door. Where did all of that dough come from? According to the numbers, the industry has Nintendo to thank for the lucre.

Selling more than 10 million Wii consoles and nearly 10 million DS, not to mention 132 million games for their systems, in 2008, the Japanese developer is responsible for more than half of all gaming sales last year.

What are they going to do with all of that money? Continue to experiment it looks like.

Word is already starting to shake loose that the DSi, the company's two-camera, one microphone version of the handheld DS, could be hitting U.S. shores as early as April for $180.

More interesting, though, is Nintendo's valiant attempt at pushing the educational side of gaming with their devices.

In recent months Nintendo has approved a number of educational games for their systems including one meant to help study for the SATs and another for practicing math.

On Tuesday, the developer announced a partnership with The National Association for Music Education aimed at using Nintendo's Wii and Wii Music in classrooms to teach children about rhythm, tempo and song structure.

“Research shows that more than 82 percent of people who don’t currently play a musical instrument wish they did," said Joe Lamond, President & CEO of NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants. "Wii Music can help address this by providing a positive introduction for millions of people who might not otherwise be inclined to try.”

Well Played is a weekly column about the big news of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.

Fresh from the Kotaku source line come these amazing concept images of what would have happened if Obi-Wan Kenobi turned to the Dark Side.

Here's what Free Radical did to turn the lovable teacher, into a frightening hermit for what would have been Star Wars Battlefront III:

Tatters rags for clothes, like Yoda's but more decayed.
Yeollowed teeth and claw like nails
Relics and artifacts with strong dark side resonance kept in pouches and threaded through his clothes.
Belts and straps made from Krayt dragon leather
Fur lining from Wampa slain on his travels
Mayny layers of robes, cloaks and cloth mask his shriveled wiry frame.
Mostly a hermit, Dark Obiwan wanders searching for places and things with strong connections to the dark side.

I sure hope the new developers take this in the same direction.

Leaked Star Wars Battlefront 3 Gameplay Footage

SPOnG reports that a former Free Radical employee has verified that the footage is genuine, but that the game has already been passed to a new developer. Worse still, the tech that allowed you to fly from the ground to air and then into orbit stayed with Free Radical. The new developer, the source says, will now be using cutscenes.

The source did confirm that my careful listening did pick up the correct phrase in the cutscene, with a Sith saying "stick to the plan Kenobi" and that the Free Radical game was to feature another attempt to turn a Jedi to the Dark Side.

No word if that made the hand-off.

And now a moment of silence for what would have been a great game.

Exclusive: Star Wars: Battlefront III Tech Dead [SPOnG]

It sounds like a Sith, perhaps even a hoodless Palpatine, is telling "Kenobi" to "stick to the plan" about four minutes and 55 seconds into the video. The actual quote is "Stick to the plan Kenobi."

What's this now? Could it be that LucasArts has approved another storyline that deals with the internal struggle against the darkside, this time featuring Kenobi? I haven't a clue but it does seem to show that the jedi will make some sort of appearance in the game.

Whether he's a playable main character or a walk-on appearance remains to be seen. Maybe some of the more devoted fans of Star Wars could pick through the trailer for me and explain, if for no reason other than to let me stop trying to figure it out.

Oh, one other thing, it maybe that the last seconds of the video show the platforms the game will be on. Too fuzzy to know for sure, but kind of looks like PS3, PC, Xbox 360 and Wii. Or maybe I'm smoking something.

Someone buy Free Radical already and then fill me in.

We've already caught a glimpse at some pretty impressive TimeSplitter 4 and Star Wars Battlefront 3 art. Now we've got what is supposed to be early footage of Star Wars Battlefront 3.

The footage, we're told, was taken at an internal alpha meeting with Free Radical back in November. It looks pretty amazing and features some pretty detailed cut scenes.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Cameron Gunn of administrator ReSolve Partners indicates that interest in the recently trimmed company is very high, with multiple parties vying for the TimeSplitters developer.

"We're advertising the business and assets for sale and there's been some significant interest expressed from all over the world, so we're now in the process of exploring that interest. The sale process itself will take a few weeks to run through, so we are thinking at this stage probably towards the end of January we should be in a better position to know whether or not we've got a decent sale - mid to late January"

There also remains the decision on whether they want to sell off Free Radical in pieces or as a whole. Gunn mentions the possibility of being able to sell off assets for a higher overall price than selling the company as a whole, but would rather preserve as many jobs as possible.

Currently Free Radical remains up and running with a skeletal staff of 40, though what exactly those 40 are doing remains up in the air, seeing as they've no projects currently signed.

"Very strong interest" in Free Radical Design sale [GamesIndustry.biz]

High poly-count renders and in-game meshes from the third Star Wars: Battlefront were leaked by one of Free Radical's former animators, revealing a partial look at who's in the game and what they look like.

Appearances from Star Wars regulars like Han Solo, Chancellor Palpatine and the Jawas look to join newcomers like Shara the Bounty Hunter and the Kimanoans, the forgettable long-necked alien species from the similarly forgettable Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

The renders, via SWBF3.de and the artist's various web sites, are dated from the end of 2007, so much could have changed during that time period. Whether Star Wars: Battlefront III will change even further at its rumored new home at Rebellion, remains to be seen.

The company went into administration following the shutdown last week, and now Cameron Gunn of administrators ReSolve Partners have outlined plans to offload the leftovers. 140 employees were "made redundant" effective December 31st, with the remaining 40 being offered up as part of the company's sale, indicating "strong interest" by unnamed parties.

It remains unknown what the potential sale means for the future of Free Radical's various projects, and hopefully the leaked concept art won't be the last we've seen of TimeSplitters 4.

Free Radical Slashes 140 From Work Force [1UP]

Smashpad had a source inside the now-closed studio, noted for its TimeSplitters and Haze IPs, who said Pumpkin Beach was set up about four months ago in-house. "We were told that because the project was going to be quite different from Free Radical’s previous games," said Smashpad's source, "they were setting up a new company, sort of a new label for the game, to avoid the associations with TimeSplitters and Haze."

Avoiding associations with the universally-panned Haze? Sound strategy. The source semi-disputed rumors that Lucasarts was most displeased and took away Battlefront III, giving it to Rebellion. But he or she didn't elaborate on them being "not entirely true."

The story also links over to the Unofficial Free Radical Design Blog, which having no Free Radical Design to blog about, continues the story:

Sources explain Dave Doak had left Free Radical Design a month ago. He and Steve Ellis are now looking at creating a new game developer company called Pumpkin Beach. Little is known about their plans for this company but a website, http://www.pumpkinbeach.com/, has been reserved. It is possible TimeSplitters 4 could be sold to this new company. Maybe this new company was created as a rescue for TimeSplitters 4 but the lack of publisher support makes the idea a risky one.

During the meeting roughly 20 staff positions were offered into the new company for people at Free Radical Design. Codemasters and Monumental Games were also at the hotel used to hold the meeting to ask for CVs and applications for anyone who was interested.

So, there's some reason to be optimistic amongst the fallout; the jettisoned Free Radical employees either have jobs, or decent prospects, and TimeSplitters 4 is at minimum rumor-worthy, which is good, because this swrrt concept art surely needs a home.

Free Radical Founder Steve Ellis Opens New Studio [Smashpad]

As you may be aware, the studio I worked for (Free Radical) has just effectively gone bust. I had a great time working there and met some fantastic people along the way. Anyway, this is just to say that I'm currently looking for work. I've attached a bunch of images covering some of the things I've been up to recently. My skills include low and high poly modelling, texturing, digital sculpting and concepting.

Skills indeed. If you're a studio looking for talent, Nick's your guy. Now hit the jump and join with us in mourning what may never be.

Maybe we should do more of these resumes of sorts for those laid off in the industry.

Nick Carver [Thanks Ryan]

According to a report on GI.biz, the game (which is supposed to be the reason behind the studio's woes after they lost the deal) has been handed over to Rebellion. You may know Rebellion as the guys who port a ton of games to handheld consoles.

Or, on a more promising note, you may know them as the guys behind the original Aliens vs Predator on PC, one of the best - and most underrated - shooters of all time.

Free Radical Design closes doors [GI.biz]

The sources confirmed to Kotaku earlier reports that employees were locked out of their offices today in Nottingham. A meeting held later in the day ending with the closure of the independent developer, sources say.

While the shut down was a surprise to some within the company, it sounds like it wasn't to all. We've heard that some Free Radical Design employees were jumping ship in the week or two leading to today's news.

Free Radical's last game, Haze, was widely received as a mediocre game, but the company was working on a follow up for their popular TimeSplitters franchise and rumored to be working on a Star Wars: Battlefront game for LucasArts.

Sources say that the company recently lost the development deal for the LucasArts project, something that could have led to this end of year shut down.

Which is never a good sign. Especially when there are also security guards posted outside to stop employees from getting in.

We hear that a meeting's taking place about now to explain what's going on, but if it doesn't involve:

a) the closure of the studio, who have developed TimeSplitters, Second Sight & Haze

or at least

b) mass layoffs

We'd be awful surprised. Unless the bosses decided to lock everyone out so they could sort out their secret santa lists. Though that scenario is, admittedly, less likely.

We've contacted Free Radical for comment, and will update when we hear back.

A recent trailer for TimeSplitters 4 that featured a parody of Star Wars has mysteriously disappeared from Free Radical's site. While no official comment about the trailer disappearance was forth coming it appears the question may be settled in this post found on the developer's official FAQ:

What happened to the latest TimeSplitters trailer (featuring "Sir Chimpalot")?

Some people with a sense of humour deficiency bizarrely thought that it infringed their copyright. We've got better things to do than argue about that kind of thing, so we took it down instead. Rest assured, though, that Sir Chimpalot will still feature in the next TimeSplitters game.

How strange. And I hear Free Radical is even working on something with Lucas. Hope this isn't the start of relationships going south.

Free Radical Design - TimeSplitters 4 [via and thanks to Popzara for noticing the new content.]