History Free Radical Design

original company logo, 1998–2006

most of free radical design s employees worked game developer rare. while @ rare, (david doak, steve ellis, karl hilton, graeme norgate , lee ray) worked on nintendo 64 first-person shooters goldeneye 007 , perfect dark. late 1998 1999, team left rare form free radical design, established in april 1999, first release being timesplitters playstation 2 in 2000. known fast-paced gameplay , particular emphasis on multiplayer rather story. timesplitters attracted attention @ time because of former rare employees work on critically acclaimed goldeneye 007. sequel, timesplitters 2, became highest-ranked first-person shooter playstation 2 on gamerankings.

free radical design working on star wars: battlefront iii 2006 2008, became cancelled when supposedly 99 percent complete. cancellation of title, , poorly received release of haze, contributed free radical design going bankruptcy.

on 18 december 2008, reported studio had shut down, though later confirmed company had gone bankrupt, leaving 40 of original 185 staff still employed. on 3 february 2009, haze scriptwriter rob yescombe announced free radical design had been purchased german game developer crytek. in 2010, company moved sandiacre brand new offices in new central nottingham southreef development. £50 million investment allow crytek uk grow on next few months .

2014 financial difficulties , layoffs

in june 2014, reports surfaced crytek had missed wage payments , withheld bonuses company s employees, , result, number of employees had filed grievances , refused report work, , @ least 30 employees had left company since 2011 alone due decreasing morale @ studio. after denying there issues, crytek later admitted on 25 july 2014 company in transitional phase secured capital future projects, particular emphasis on online gaming.

on 30 july 2014, crytek announced that, due internal restructuring, sell intellectual property of homefront (the sequel which, later restructured reboot homefront: revolution, in development @ crytek uk @ time) koch media, parent company of video game publisher deep silver, , lay off of company s staff. crytek left unclear whether company had been shut down entirely, staff transferred new dambuster studios being established in nottingham in accordance british law, afterwards continued work on homefront: revolution.