The franchise TimeSplitters, first released in October 26, 2000 with the release of the Playstation 2, looks to be getting another sequel after 17 years since the first games release, is finally poised for a comeback. The Intellectual Property has changed several hands since Free Radical Design folded due to a poor release of their game Haze. New IP Owner Deep Silver issued an official announcement this week stating that a new development studio has been set up to create a new TimeSplitters game.
According to Deep Silver’s statement, the new development studio is reforming Free Radical Design, and the group will be headed up by the original game’s developers and designers, Steve Ellis and David Doak. Ellis and Doak were co-creators and part of the original design team for the first TimeSplitters game at Free Radical Design.
The full statement from Deep Silver reads as follows:
“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.”
The first-person shooter game later spawned two sequels: TimeSplitters 2; and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, which were released in 2002 and 2005 respectively. Later planned installments in the series failed to materialize. However, Deep Silver parent company Koch Media, managed to acquire the IP and publishing rights for TimeSplitters back in 2018.
With the new plans for a new game in the franchise, there is the hope that HD remakes or remasters of the originals may follow, Deep Silver are well known for PC releases and these games never were released on the PC platform so this may also be a scenario that could happen.
