Last week, we witnessed another series of layoffs as Free Radical Design closed its doors. With that reported bombshell coming to fruition, we likely lost the potential for a new TimeSplitters game. However, images appearing to show what-could-have-been have been leaked.
According to a number of posts on Twitter (as spotted by Eurogamer), concept art and early screenshots from the elusive TimeSplitters revival have made an appearance. User @ithedestrxyer shows some character models, while an account called TimeSplitters News & Archives has uploaded general art work.
These have been credited to the now-defunct Free Radical Design, which was the studio that’s been behind the series since day one. More have been curated on the fandom page, each of which has been given attributes for their respective artists.
Dare to dream
We can’t say for sure whether these are legitimate images from the game, but if they are, then they certainly act as a tease. With the developer shutting down entirely, the future of TimeSplitters remains uncertain.
The former studio was under the Embracer Group umbrella, so the parent company will likely have to make a decision about whether to revive the dormant franchise going forward.
Of course, with Free Radical now out of the picture, any hope of a brand-new entry will come with the caveat that it won’t be made by the original creators. Still, a lot of people would love to see TimeSplitters make a comeback and these recent images (if they do belong to the game) could encourage Embracer to continue the project, or maybe even sell it to another company.
