History
Most of Free Radical Design's initial employees previously worked for the game developer Rare (company), Rare. While at Rare, they (David Doak, Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton, Graeme Norgate, Lee Ray and James Cunliffe) worked on the Nintendo 64 First-person shooter, first-person shooters ''GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game), GoldenEye 007'' and ''Perfect Dark''. From late 1998 to early 1999, this team left Rare to form Free Radical Design, which was established in April 1999, their first release being ''TimeSplitters (video game), TimeSplitters'' for the PlayStation 2 in 2000. It was known for its very fast-paced gameplay and its particular emphasis on Multiplayer video game, multiplayer rather than story. ''TimeSplitters'' attracted attention at the time because of the former Rare employees' work on the critically acclaimed ''GoldenEye 007''. Its sequel, ''TimeSplitters 2'', became the highest-ranked first-person shooter for PlayStation 2 on GameRankings. Free Radical Design was working on ''Star Wars: Battlefront III'' from 2006 to 2008, but it was cancelled by their publishing partner when it was supposedly "99 percent" complete. The cancellation of this title, and the poorly received release of ''Haze (video game), Haze'', contributed to Free Radical Design going into bankruptcy. In late 2008, Free Radical Design was approached by Activision to work on GoldenEye 007 (2010 video game), a ''GoldenEye 007'' remake. Although the studio rebuilt the Dam Level for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, negotiations fell through, with the studio entering administration soon afterwards. The video game remake, remake would release on those consoles without FRD's involvement in 2011 as an enhanced port of its original release on the Wii and Nintendo DS a year prior. On 18 December 2008, it was reported that the studio had shut down, though it was later confirmed that the company had gone bankrupt, leaving only 40 of the original 185 staff still employed. On 3 February 2009, ''Haze (video game), Haze'' scriptwriter Rob Yescombe announced that Free Radical Design had been purchased by German game developer Crytek. In 2010, the company moved from Sandiacre to brand-new offices in the new central Nottingham Southreef development. The £50 million investment will allow Crytek UK to "grow over the next few months".Financial difficulties and closure
In June 2014, reports surfaced that Crytek had missed wage payments and withheld bonuses for the company's employees, and that as a result, a number of employees had filed Grievance (labour), grievances and refused to report to work, and at least 30 employees had left the company since 2011 alone due to a decreasing morale at the studio. After denying that there were issues, Crytek later admitted on 25 July 2014 that the company was in a "transitional phase" as it secured Capital (economics), capital for future projects, with a particular emphasis on online gaming. On 30 July 2014, Crytek announced that, due to an internal restructuring, it would sell the intellectual property of ''Homefront (video game), Homefront'' (the sequel for which, later restructured as the reboot ''Homefront: The Revolution'', was in development at Crytek UK at the time) to Koch Media, parent company of video game publisher Deep Silver, and lay off much of the company's staff. Crytek left it unclear whether the company had been shut down entirely, however all staff were transferred to the new Dambuster Studios being established in Nottingham in accordance with Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, British law, where they afterwards continued to work on ''Homefront: The Revolution''.Reformation
In May 2021, Embracer Group announced during their 2020–2021 full-year report that Free Radical Design would be reformed as a subsidiary of Deep Silver with the intent of bringing "the much-loved ''TimeSplitters'' IP back to life". Key original members of the original Free Radical Design are involved in the reformation including founders Steve Ellis and David Doak. Their studio is based in Nottingham.Games developed
As Free Radical Design (1999–2008)
As Crytek UK (2009–2014)
As Free Radical Design (2021–present)
Cancelled games
* ''Star Wars: Battlefront III'' * ''TimeSplitters 4''References
External links
* * * {{Authority control Free Radical Design, Deep Silver Crytek Companies based in Nottingham British companies established in 1999 British companies disestablished in 2014 British companies established in 2021 Video game companies established in 1999 Video game companies disestablished in 2014 Video game companies established in 2021 Video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game development companies 1999 establishments in England 2014 disestablishments in England 2021 establishments in England British subsidiaries of foreign companies Re-established companies