Timesplitters, the satirical arcade shooter franchise – formerly of Free Radical, might be making its triumphant comeback after a half decade absence. For those who don’t remember the fate of Free Radical, after the less then successful launch of Haze, they were put up for sale and were purchased by Crytek and subsequently renamed Crytek UK. Crytek UK is currently working on the multiplayer component of Crysis 2, but Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli stated in an interview with CVG that “Yeah, we have been discussing [A New Timesplitters Game], but nothing has been confirmed yet, so let’s see after Crysis 2…” Not exactly a clear cut confirmation of a new entry, but in this case it does seem like Yerli is definitely foreshadowing a future announcement.
Gamers in the know will remember that Free Radical was originally formed by a number of former Rare employees that worked on the N64 Goldeneye and Perfect Dark games, which becomes pretty apparent when paying a Timesplitters game. A sequel to Timesplitters Future Perfect was teased in 2007, but their financial troubles and acquisition left the game with an uncertain future.
Yerli had good, yet unfortunate things to say about Free Radical, further stating that “I love working with our UK friends…The team has been performing up to the quality bar easily. Our thinking was that the team had done 80-85 rated games, and we thought that with the right technology, IP and global IP direction they could reach the 90 barrier. I’m very confident that they can do that.” Although it is something that is always happening in the background, to hear a CEO actually call out the Metacritic system as a metric for a games success is a stark reminder that the video game industry is just that, an industry.
Hopefully all the time spent learning the ins and outs of Crytek Engine 2 while developing the multiplayer for Crysis 2 will provide a solid foundation for Crytek UK to start working on their own properties, a move that seems likely given Yerli’s statements.
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