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When Deep Silver re-formed developer Free Radical Design a few years ago, there was hope that we’d see a return of the TimeSplitters franchise. Sadly, that return is now up in the air, as Embracer Group (which owns Deep Silver) has now closed Free Radical Design.

Per Video Games Chronicle, there were reports weeks ago that the Nottingham-based company was potentially being closed, due to company-wide cuts at Embracer and its owned publishers. The website for Free Radical Design today has effectively confirmed those reports, with the website now reading “404 Company Not Found :-(“.

As mentioned, it’s not clear what Free Radical’s closure will mean for the future of TimeSplitters, which original founders Steve Ellis and David Doak had aimed to revive alongside the revival of the studio.

The first incarnation of Free Radical Design began in 1999, where the team developed the TimeSplitters series for the PlayStation 2. A mix of sci-fi,...

Rip-roaring adventure, memorable enemies and beautiful women, the Bond movies should make great games. But they've only made one. Here's why

I can remember my first experience of a James Bond computer game. It was the Commodore 64 version of View to a Kill, released by Domark Software in 1985. I distinctly recall awkwardly driving a tiny block-like taxi around a depiction of Paris that resembled a series of green sticking plasters haphazardly slapped over each other. And I thought to myself, this in no way captures the experience of watching a James Bond movie. It would turn out to be a prescient observation.

Fast forward to 2012 and the latest Bond flick is thrilling movie-goers with its gritty action, complex plot and compelling central performance. But there is no direct video game tie-in. Instead, there are a couple of sequences from Skyfall tucked into a game called 007 Legends, a sort of best-of-Bond compendium,...