Xcast Online - Confirmed: TimeSplitters studio up for grabs, axes 75% of staff

Confirmed: TimeSplitters studio up for grabs, axes 75% of staff

Written by Phil Meza
Friday, 26 December 2008
Nothing says "Happy Holidays!" like receieving a pink slip notifying you that your services are no longer required, eh? We already heard last week that TimeSplitters and Haze studio, Free Radical, were in a bit of trouble, and had effectively closed up shop, but today the company made things official. As of December 18th the studio went into administration, and they laid off 140 staffers (or 75% of their employees) yesterday - a move that goes into effect on December 31st. Cameron Gunn of ReSolve Partners, the administration company in which Free Radical are placed, said: "We made around 140 employees redundant yesterday, effective 31 December (the date up to which they had been paid). We're still trading on with the remaining 40 or so employees, have advertised the business for sale and have received some strong interest." It's reported that despite this unfortunate news, the studio is not formally "closing up shop." Instead, as Gunn stated above, the studio is going to be acquired by an outside force and will lose its "independent" status. Shame things had to end this way for a studio behind a franchise as memorable as TimeSplitters. Things are changing.