I was saddened to hear of Free Radical's closing, but it does sound like a bit of a happy ending given their new owners. TimeSplitters + CryENGINE could be a good combination.
I wouldn't mourn the SW: Battlefronts game nearly as much as the loss of TS4. I always admired the TimeSplitters series for their solid framerates and controls and well-implemented gameplay (especially co-op). The fact that controls still get botched in multi-million dollar FPS's just amazes me. Level design, pacing, and just not screwing up the FPS formula can't be overlooked either. TS2 and 3 could also be commended for being solidly playable on any 6th gen system. There was no sense of them being an Xbox game ported to PS2 and GCN or any combination thereof. Co-op was great and actually made sense in the context of the storyline with player 2 assuming control of each level's major NPC.
I think the takeaway for seeing these development houses close or shed workers while games/consoles continue to sell is that video games are fairly recession proof, but the huge upfront investment needed to produce them is clearly not.
