Sad News From Embracer Group; TimeSplitters and Chorus Devs Among Restructuring Victims [Update #2]
Embracer Group will soon close Free Radical Design, the studio known for the TimeSplittters series. In addition, some of Fishlabs employees have been laid off.
Update #2
Plaion has confirmed the closure of Free Radical Design. A statement from the company reads:
"It's with a heavy heart that we must announce yet another difficult decision Today, we have to confirm the official closure of Free Radical Design, and say goodbye to many remarkable, talented and hard-working people. We are beyond grateful for their incredible contributions to Plaion and wish them the best of luck and success on their professional journey from here on out."
Update #1 (December 11)
It looks like Free Radical Design has indeed ceased to exist. Its website has been shut down, and employees are posting farewell messages on X/Twitter (via Game Informer).
Original post (November 29)
It's not a good year for the Embracer Group. The corporation has just announced further job cuts.
- As a result, Free Radical Design is to be closed down, the studio known for Second Sight, Haze and above all the Timesplitters series. The end of the team will come on December 11, unless a company is found ready to take over the team.
- Layoffs have affected also Fishlabs, the studio known for the Galaxy on Fire series and Chorus. Here, fortunately, only part of the crew will say goodbye to their work and the team will not be disbanded. The reduction was caused by the fact that the owner (Deep Silver, part of the Embracer group) rejected the team's new project. This game, therefore, will not be developed, but Fishlabs is expected to continue its current activities focused on helping other teams.
Although Fishlabs has survived as a studio, there is still nothing to be happy about. Chorus turned out to be an excellent space shooter, which is well demonstrated by the fact that the game has 84% positive reviews on Steam. Therefore, we were curiously looking forward to the next project of this team. However, there are many indications that, instead, Fishlabs will now only be involved in assissting with other teams' projects.
The impending end of Free Radical Design is also saddening. Two years ago Embracer announced the resurrection of this team and the return of the TimeSplitters brand. Now, however, more likely than not, nothing will come out of it.
It is worth mentioning that Fishlabs and Free Radical Design are only the latest victims of Embracer Group's financial problems. Earlier this year, the conglomerate laid off more than 900 people and closed Volition, the team behind the Saints Row series.
