Crytek to Purchase Free Radical
Written on February 4, 2009 at 5:59 am, by James Fudge
While an official announcement is due today, early word from Free Radical scriptwriter Rob Yescombe is that Crytek will buy the troubled UK-based development studio behind the wonderful TimeSplitters series and the mediocre Haze game. Speaking to 1UP, Yescombe confirmed that the developers of Far Cry and Crysis had purchased the company for an undisclosed sum.
“After seven long weeks of uncertainty, I can confirm that Free Radical is now out of the woods.” he said “We’ve been bought by a really, really good company. I’m so excited I’m lost for words. It’s the smoothest deal we’ve ever done. It all went through quickly, efficiently, fantastically…”
While there is cause for celebration, hopefully today’s announcement will reveal what happens with the employees that were let go in December. Will they return to work or will Crytek simply say “what’s done is done” and move forward? We don’t know but we’ll be following this story closely throughout the day as it develops.
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Category Action, Genres, Industry, Other, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Tags: Crysis,Crysis Warhead,Crytek,Far Cry,Far Cry 2,Free Radical,Haze,Industry,Purchase,TimeSplitters
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Free Radical’s Fate Decided Wednesday
Written on February 2, 2009 at 7:25 pm, by James Fudge
The fate of Free Radical will be announced on Wednesday, according to ReSolve Partners, the company in charge of liquidating its assets. The good news is - if it is at all possible - Free Radical’s best bet lies in an outright sale to a bigger company. That is what Resolve Partners would like to see happen and there is apparently strong interest from a few suitors in Europe and abroad. Compaies that are showing interest according to the street include Codemasters, Monumental Games and some businesses outside the game industry.
The developers of the popular TimeSplitters series and the not-so-popular shooter Haze went into bankruptcy in late 2008 and laid off a good percentage of its staff.
While ReSolve see the best case scenario involving an outright sales of the entire company, it is not shying away from dividing the company up or doing anything else necessary to clear up Free Radicals debt. We’ll have more on this story later this week.
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Category Action, Genres, Industry, Other, Uncategorized | Tags: bankruptcy,Codemasters,Free Radical,Haze,Industry,Monumental,ReSolve Partners,Shooter,TimeSplitters
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Free Radical Shutters Its Doors?
Written on December 18, 2008 at 12:23 pm, by David Chapman
It’s a scary thing when the game industry’s theme song seems to be Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”, but if the early word coming out of the UK this morning is any indication, that may just be the case. Sources are reporting that employees at TimeSplitters and Haze developer, Free Radical Designs, were greeted this morning with a locked office and a note directing them to a business meeting at a nearby hotel. Add to that reports that many of the company’s senior executives have already taken off, and it looks like the game industry is about to add one more name to the list of casualties.
It’s been a rough patch lately for Free Radical. The company’s last game, Haze, took a pounding both critically and commercially. And despite showing off a round of conceptual assets for TimeSplitters 4, in early October, development on the latest entry in the popular FPS series had ground to a halt. Finally, the company’s biggest project, a “secret title” announced back in 2006 as a joint effort with LucasArts, has apparently been handed over to another development studio.
Official word has yet to come direct from Free Radical on whether or not the company is on life support or if it’s pulling the plug altogether. Either way, it’s one more bit of bad news spotlighting the financial troubles being faces by the video game industry, and by business in general, in today’s economic crisis. Sony, EA, Eidos, Midway, and Activision have all already reported major layoffs this year. It’s almost enough to make gamers wonder just who’s next on the chopping block.
Ubisoft Reports Record Q2 Results
Written on July 24, 2008 at 8:37 pm, by James Fudge
Today Ubisoft reported financial results for the first fiscal quarter that ended on June 30, 2008. Ubisoft’s first quarter sales were up 25.8 percent, compared with the €134 million ($209.32 million) recorded for the same period of a year ago.
The company attributed first quarter profits to Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Assassin’s Creed and Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. The Games For Everyone brands including the Petz, Imagine and My Coach series also played a big part, representing 33 percent of sales versus 11 percent in the first quarter of 2007-08. Titles launched in the first quarter of 2008-09, included Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for PC, Haze, and My Weight Loss Coach which got off to a promising start, according to Ubisoft.
Ubisoft is raising its guidance for full-year 2008-09 sales to approximately €1.02 billion ($1.59 billion) from the previously-announced €1 billion ($1.56 billion) as a result of several factors including favorable market conditions for the video games industry, Ubisoft’s solid first-quarter sales performance (particularly by the Games For Everyone range), and the positive reception given to the games presented at E3. The Group is maintaining its target for current income before stock options to represent at least 12 percent of sales.
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Category DS, Industry, Other, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tags: Assassin's Creed,Haze,Industry,My Weight Loss Coach,Rainbow Six Vegas 2,Tom Clancy,Ubisoft
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