Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors has confirmed that Free Radical may be gone before the end of the year.
The studio, which is well-known for its titles ‘TimeSplitters’ and ‘Haze’ was purchased by Crytek in 2008 after it faced bankruptcy and went on to produce other titles, such as ‘Crysis’. Rumours began circulating recently over the future of the company, with it being alleged that it would be closing its doors permanently. Now, the studio’s patron company, Embracer Group, has confirmed their fate, with boss Lars Wingefors announcing that it would be undergoing significant job cuts.
In a statement, he said: “As we move through the consultation process and face the potential closure of Free Radical Design on 11 December 2023.
“I want to express my gratitude for your commitment and the remarkable work you’ve done and still keep doing… This is a challenging time for all of us but especially for you, and our focus is to support you as much as we can during this transition.”
The announcement comes after it came to light that several waves of layoffs were made throughout many Embracer-owned studios this year, in an attempt to recoup the losses of a $2 billion deal that fell through in May.
Another developer facing job cuts is Fishlabs, which has handled several ports to the Nintendo Switch, including ‘Saints Row 4: Re-Elected’ and ‘Valheim’.
In a statement, Embracer explained that the estimated 50 layoffs were unavoidable.
It read: “Despite exhaustive efforts to avoid downsizing, the lack of approval and therefore financing for the studio’s unannounced project [‘Project Black’] has made this step unavoidable.”
