Mpilk901 Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/free...nancial-trouble Independent UK studio Free Radical Design closed its doors this morning, GamesIndustry.biz understands, with multiple sources claiming that staff, including senior executives, have already left the company. It is also believed that the unnamed project for LucasArts - announced back in 2006 and thought to be Star Wars Battlefront III - has been shipped off to Rebellion, the developer behind PSP hit Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron. One source claims staff turned up to work today to find doors locked, and instructions to meet at a nearby hotel for a final company meeting. Last month, when contacted by GamesIndustry.biz, director Steve Ellis denied there were any changes at the company. "Nothing unusual is happening here. Projects end. New projects start. That's how things have worked for nearly 10 years," he said then. TimeSplitters 4 and the unnamed project were both still in development said Ellis, as were "other unannounced projects, which are in the process of being signed." And days later, when more industry chatter questioned the future of the Nottingham studio, Ellis said that "we certainly won't be laying off any staff today. Or, for that matter, any time in 2008." "If something happens in 2009 I'm sure we'll be prepared to comment - but from where I'm sitting, whatever happens is far more likely to be positive than negative," he added. Calls to senior staff at Free Radical Design by GamesIndustry.biz yesterday and today have not been returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claude-5 Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 just like that *click* no announcement, no warning, thats strange :S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpilk901 Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 just like that *click* no announcement, no warning, thats strange :S Their suffering from a financial crisis at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claude-5 Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 stupid UK credit crunch, when will all of this bullsh*t pass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM™ Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Not for a while, unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claude-5 Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 this credit crunch crap shut down a bunch of awesome devs and left alot alot of peeps wothout jobs in a tough time, curse u gordon brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artur Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Wow that's pretty lame. Used to love Battlefront on the old consoles, never played the PSP version so I dunno if it's any good. Hopefully it was and the company that made it are not going to mess up the speculated Battlefront 3 because it's a game I'm looking forward to and it would suck if they messed it up. As for the Free Radical, I hope they are able to solve their problems out and shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTA Don Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Aww, Free Radical are such brilliant developers, Haze FTW. Fucking credit crunch. This shit is affecting everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 I don't like Haze but they developed Second sight which was is an awesome underrated game, poor guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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