Free Radical closes doors.
- Thread starter BoardBonobo
- Start date
Still unconfirmed, I think, but seems plenty plausible.
Edit: shouldn't this be in the console forums?
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Lucid_Dreamer
Veteran
Isn't it more like "this is what happens when you only have one egg"?
What?
RenegadeRocks
Legend
Its really sad, first EA announced a cut of 540 emplayees, then SOny announced cuts in manpower now Free Radical shuts down 
! I hope the golden days of gaming are still coming.....
! I hope the golden days of gaming are still coming.....
Sony have said their gaming division won't be affected by the corporate-wide downsizing. Which doesn't mean much, seeing as Free Radical were telling us everything was fine and lovely there, but at least the official word from Sony is no impact on the games division!
EA's upped the layoffs to 1000 employees so far. And Free Radical's saying it's not true that the company went under.
Sad as I enjoyed TS2 and liked their approach to MP flexibility and features.
I think people forget that there are dev houses that go under every generation. Talented people start firm... some do well and most of these get acquired. Yet other sink.
Its really sad, first EA announced a cut of 540 emplayees, then SOny announced cuts in manpower now Free Radical shuts down
I think people forget that there are dev houses that go under every generation. Talented people start firm... some do well and most of these get acquired. Yet other sink.
midorigreenwood
Newcomer
Administrators have been called in according to this Nottingham newspaper (where they're based). They're pretty much dead :/
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/h...es-company/article-558753-detail/article.html
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/h...es-company/article-558753-detail/article.html
Indeed. This is nothing new. Fact is any company that fails to create the products the market wants will eventually go under if they never turn things around.
Rare being a perfect example of that. It's still a bit sad that even though they had two big titles in production - Battlefront and TS4 - they still couldn't find a publisher. And was all this down to Haze?
Haze didn't help, but it wasn't their first flop, it was like the third. Also, apparently Lucasarts pulled out of Battlefront 3. I heard they started working on TS4 to try and drum up some interest, but that's pretty big speculation.
midorigreenwood
Newcomer
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/administrator-confirms-free-radical-demise
Timesplitters Wii ftw >,> (with local splitscreen multiplayer ffs)
but according to edge the figureheads of the operations have already left
http://www.edge-online.com/features/source-free-radical-locked-up
Timesplitters Wii ftw >,> (with local splitscreen multiplayer ffs)
but according to edge the figureheads of the operations have already left
http://www.edge-online.com/features/source-free-radical-locked-up
midorigreenwood
Newcomer
according to Matt cassa-whatshisname from IGN.....
although he's been saying for two years that Factor 5 is developing Kid Icarus for Nintendo >,>
doesn't make sense unless it has been chabudai gaeshi-ed permanently (Nintendo for kicked in the nuts)
What sad news. I enjoyed TimeSplitters a lot on the PS2. It wasn't a particular good FPS single player experience, but it more than made up for it with its multiplayer modes. 60 fps blazing framerate, very fun gameplay modes and a great level editor made it one of my most played games on the PS2.
It's sad that Resistance somewhat replaced it this gen on the PS3 (good in another way), but if a TimeSplitters had been out for lunch, I probably would have got that too. Too many fond memories. A TimeSplitters with the multiplayer modes and level editor online would have been great.
Sadly, I couldn't bring myself to like Haze. Didn't dig the setting nor the marketing of the game.
It's sad that Resistance somewhat replaced it this gen on the PS3 (good in another way), but if a TimeSplitters had been out for lunch, I probably would have got that too. Too many fond memories. A TimeSplitters with the multiplayer modes and level editor online would have been great.
Sadly, I couldn't bring myself to like Haze. Didn't dig the setting nor the marketing of the game.
Somehow I'm not surprised about this news. A couple of years back I was looking at free radical (among others) for job openings - I was told by a friend in the UK to avoid them, because their staff turn over rate was high - especially for programmers (for example, they apparently [strike]do[/strike] did all their coding in VIM).*
And it strikes me that 185 staff is an awful lot for their track record and known projects (considering id have 65, epic ~100, etc). Their burn rate must have been enormous; to go 3+ years with only Haze brining in money in this climate, it's no surprise things have turned out badly...
*this is what I was told at least...
And it strikes me that 185 staff is an awful lot for their track record and known projects (considering id have 65, epic ~100, etc). Their burn rate must have been enormous; to go 3+ years with only Haze brining in money in this climate, it's no surprise things have turned out badly...
*this is what I was told at least...
Somehow I'm not surprised about this news. A couple of years back I was looking at free radical (among others) for job openings - I was told by a friend in the UK to avoid them, because their staff turn over rate was high - especially for programmers (for example, they apparently [strike]do[/strike] did all their coding in VIM).*
And it strikes me that 185 staff is an awful lot for their track record and known projects (considering id have 65, epic ~100, etc). Their burn rate must have been enormous; to go 3+ years with only Haze brining in money in this climate, it's no surprise things have turned out badly...
*this is what I was told at least...
You have a problem with old school?
