Deep Silver founds new Free Radical Design to work on TimeSplitters

TimeSplitters will return, courtesy of a fresh studio named Free Radical Design.

This Free Radical Design will be a new developer owned by publisher Deep Silver, with several key figures from the original developer.

In a statement published on Twitter this morning, Deep Silver said the company would be "headed up" by TimeSplitters co-creators Steve Ellis and David Doak, who were part of the core team from the original Free Radical Design's heyday.

Deep Silver also made it clear that work had not yet actually started on a new TimeSplitters game and that the studio was still being formed at present.

Here's today's statement in full:

"You asked and we listened. We have been working on plans to bring the TimeSplitters franchise back to life and are pleased to let you know that we are setting up a new Deep Silver development studio to do just that. Free Radical Design is reforming and will be headed up by industry and TimeSplitters veterans Steve Ellie and David Doak.

"This is an exciting first step in the process; development on a new game has not yet started and we will update you when we have more news to share."

A new Deep Silver Studio is coming - Free Radical Design pic.twitter.com/N5qTTcZfsW

Today's news is the most concrete sign of life in TimeSplitters for years, following various suggestions that the beloved series could still be resurrected, scrapped plans for a fourth entry and whispers of some kind of HD remake.

It has now been 16 years since the last full TimeSplitters game was released, but interest in the series still remains strong. Earlier this year, excitement was sparked among TimeSplitters fans when cheat codes surfaced to unlock more TimeSplitters 2 levels in Homefront: The Revolution.

Back in 2019, Deep Silver's parent company announced it was working with Steve Ellis to determine what might be next for TimeSplitters, although we had heard little since.

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