Speaking from his local pub, Yescombe told us, "After seven long weeks of uncertainty, I can confirm that Free Radical is now out of the woods. We've been bought by a really, really good company." He added, in what was possibly a first for the outspoken writer, "I'm so excited I'm lost for words." Then he found some and continued: "It's the smoothest deal we've ever done. It all went through quickly, efficiently, fantastically..."
Yescombe said that he was unsure what the deal would mean for those made redundant on New Year's Eve, but that he hoped the company could ramp back up to its former size. Asked about what the team will be working on -- and specifically if this means we will one day see TimeSplitters 4 -- he said, "We don't know yet. We'll find out over the coming weeks."
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: Nick DiMola on February 03, 2009, 09:47:33 PM
Great news! I suppose this is as good a company as any to have gotten Free Radical. I'm now curious to see if TimeSplitters 4 still gets made, and if it does, what impact Crytek has on its creation.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 03, 2009, 09:50:24 PM
Whether or not this is good news hinges completely on whether or not they intend to keep making and release the Wii version of TS4.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on February 03, 2009, 10:01:04 PM
they'll probably just make a big budget PC game sales disaster that requires 4 graphics cards.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: King of Twitch on February 03, 2009, 10:04:58 PM
I bet that's Kairon's favorite company. This is definitely probably good news
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: Spak-Spang on February 03, 2009, 10:20:39 PM
Well this is good news if Free Radical can hire its staff back that they let go....they lost a lot of talented people...and it is sad that the almost finished Star Wars game is still probably pulled from them.
Time Splitters 4 is probably the reason the company was bought, and will be the big game to be released, don't worry.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: EasyCure on February 03, 2009, 10:26:30 PM
Well this is good news if Free Radical can hire its staff back that they let go....they lost a lot of talented people...and it is sad that the almost finished Star Wars game is still probably pulled from them.
Time Splitters 4 is probably the reason the company was bought, and will be the big game to be released, don't worry.
That would be nice to see them get to finish the Star Wars game. It'd probably be too late but if enough people get upset they might bring it back to them. Who knows. One can wish, right?
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: NWR_Lindy on February 04, 2009, 12:22:40 AM
Bring on TimeSplitters 4. Crytek, it must be done.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: ThePerm on February 04, 2009, 12:25:21 AM
sounds like good news to me, better there be some semblance of fr then none at all
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: KDR_11k on February 04, 2009, 05:06:20 AM
Well, so far CryTek was a PC-only high end FPS developer, I wonder if they're going to branch out or make TS4 PC-exclusive?
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on February 04, 2009, 05:45:31 AM
If this keeps up, someone bigger will have to bail-out CryTek.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: KDR_11k on February 04, 2009, 09:07:46 AM
If this keeps up, someone bigger will have to bail-out CryTek.
They don't need bailing out but they're going to whine like they do anyway.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: Spak-Spang on February 04, 2009, 10:28:38 AM
I hope they don't decide to turn Time Splitters 4 into a PC exclusive. TS although a fun game for consoles is not revolutionary for the PC market, and I do not believe it would sell as well.
I would personally put Free Radical's team completely on finishing Time Splitters 4 and I would redirect it to be a console exclusive for one of the systems...which ever I felt would see the most units. (Either Wii or Xbox 360.)
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek
Post by: UltimatePartyBear on February 04, 2009, 11:00:50 AM
Crytek really does seem like an odd one to buy Free Radical. A few possibilities come to mind:
-They want experienced console developers to help them port their engine to consoles.
-They want experienced FPS developers to make games with their engine to advertise it to potential licensees.
-They simply wanted to grow and found a company with similar values that was easily acquired.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek say goodbye to FR say hello to Crytek UK
Post by: Flames_of_chaos on February 05, 2009, 04:21:19 PM
Following Tuesday's news of TimeSplitters and Haze developer Free Radical being picked up by Crytek, it's now been confirmed that the studio has seen a name change. From this point forward, we will all have to refer to Free Radical as Crytek UK.
On the acquisition, Crytek boss Avni Yerli had this to say: "The combination of this team, the Crytek network and our CryENGINE technology will be a foundation for outstanding gaming experiences and a magnet for the best talent in the UK."
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek say goodbye to FR say hello to Crytek UK
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on February 05, 2009, 04:26:50 PM
Sorry, the best talent in the UK are at Headstrong Games.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek say goodbye to FR say hello to Crytek UK
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on February 05, 2009, 04:56:34 PM
As a PC gamer I love this news, to implement the powerful Crysis engine into a Free Radical game would be amazing stuff.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek say goodbye to FR say hello to Crytek UK
Post by: Stogi on February 05, 2009, 05:01:27 PM
BOOOO!!!!
Crysis, despite it's technology, would look awful. I want TS4 to be just like the others, in style, in humor, and everything in between.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek say goodbye to FR say hello to Crytek UK
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on February 05, 2009, 05:15:11 PM
Crysis, despite it's technology, would look awful. I want TS4 to be just like the others, in style, in humor, and everything in between.
I wouldn't say that, the engine appears quite flexible and you could make an amazing and yes, artistic TS4.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek say goodbye to FR say hello to Crytek UK
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on February 05, 2009, 07:04:34 PM
But does it work on... 2 GameCubes taped together? Most Unreal engine Wii variants have failed, miserably.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek say goodbye to FR say hello to Crytek UK
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on February 05, 2009, 07:13:01 PM
But does it work on... 2 GameCubes taped together? Most Unreal engine Wii variants have failed, miserably.
I don't care about it on Wii, I want it built from the ground up on PC!
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek say goodbye to FR say hello to Crytek UK
Post by: Enner on February 08, 2009, 01:43:05 AM
Seeing how CryTek is moving in on console game development (citing PC piracy as the primary motivator), acquiring Free Radical is a good move for them. Other than CrySis Console, I also hope the TimeSplitters 4 is on the way.
Title: Re: Free Radical was bought out by Crytek say goodbye to FR say hello to Crytek UK
Post by: Dirk Temporo on February 09, 2009, 04:57:36 PM
