After declaring bankruptcy last week, Haze and TimeSplitters series developer Free Radical Design has now laid off "around 140" of its 185 employees. The studio's staff had been paid through the end of December, which is when the cuts will take effect.

"We're still trading on with the remaining 40 or so employees, have advertised the business for sale and have received some strong interest," ReSolve representative Cameron Gunn told 1UP. ReSolve had been tasked with assessing Free Radical's "financial position" and helping the developer weather its troubled times. Read more »

Update: Free Radical has not closed, but has instead gone into administration, which will allow the company to continue operating despite an inability to pay its debts.

"It's business as usual, although we have asked that almost all of the employees apart from a skeleton crew remain at home," Cameron Gunn, an employee of administration firm Resolve Partners, told local newspaper This Is Nottinham. Read more »

New to the PlayStation Store this week is a playable demo of Free Radical's shooter Haze (PS3), plus an expansion to Q-Games PixelJunk Monsters as well as Rock Band and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock downloadable content.

Available free of charge, the Haze demo is said to provide a sample of both the game's single-player campaign as well as its four-person, drop-in drop-out online co-op. Haze is scheduled to hit store shelves on May 20. Read more »

Like yellow? If so, you'll love these four new screenshots of Haze (PS3).

The Free Radical-developed shooter and its KoRn-produced title track should hit North American retailers on May 20. A downloadable demo, featuring four-person online co-op, will be available from the North American PlayStation Store tomorrow.

With the May 20 release of Haze (PS3) approaching, publisher Ubisoft sent over a video of once-famous metal band KoRn performing its game-inspired track "Haze."

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Publisher Ubisoft today confirmed that Free Radical's substance-abusing first-person shooter Haze (PS3) will be at North American retailers on May 20, with a downloadable demo due in early May. In celebration, a single new screenshot was released.

Soon to be available from the online PlayStation Store, the demo is said to provide a sample of both the game's single-player campaign as well as its four-person, drop-in drop-out online co-op. Read more »

Free Radical Design's shooter Haze will be hitting stores on May 23 in Europe, Eurogamer reports.

Telling the tale of a drug-enhanced commando facing a moral quandry, the first current-gen effort from TimeSplitters developer Free Radical was originally announced for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The title is now being touted as a PS3 exclusive after development on the PC and Xbox 360 versions was halted last year. Read more »

Ubisoft just sent over new batch of screenshots for Free Radical's upcoming shooter Haze (PS3).

Telling the tale of a drug-enhanced commando facing a moral quandry, the first current-gen effort from TimeSplitters developer Free Radical was originally announced for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but was later revealed to be PlayStation 3 exclusive. Read more »

Following a series of delays, publisher Ubisoft has announced that Free Radical Design's shooter Haze will be making its way to stores in May as a PlayStation 3 exclusive.

Telling the tale of a drug-enhanced commando facing a moral quandry, the first current-gen effort from TimeSplitters developer Free Radical was originally announced for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The title is now being touted as a PS3 exclusive after development on the PC and Xbox 360 versions was halted last year. Read more »

Publisher Ubisoft has once again pushed back the release date of Free Radical's drug-enhanced shooter Haze. The company now expects the title to arrive at some point during its 2008 fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009.

News of the delay was packaged within a financial report issued today. The company had previously slated the game for release last year, but it was pushed back and expected to hit by this March. Read more »

Much like Rudolph leading Santa's sleigh in the murky winter night, Haze, one of this year's few third party PlayStation 3-only titles, will light the way for Sony's console on December 14, reports Three Speech. Telling the tale of a drug-enhanced commando facing a moral quandry, the first current-gen effort from TimeSplitters developer Free Radical was originally announced for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The other two versions disappeared from Ubisoft documents in May, and at the time, an Ubisoft rep declined to label the game an exclusive, chuckling, "We just felt that PS3 needed some love." Later on, Free Radical co-founder and GoldenEye 007 (N64) veteran David Doak claimed that development of the first person shooter was proceeding on all platforms, but that the game would debut on PlayStation 3 first. To learn more about Haze, scope out Carlos Bergfeld's hands-on analysis.

Recent comments from publisher Ubisoft continue to paint a murky fate for the Xbox 360 and PC editions of developer Free Radical's next first person shooter, Haze. GameSpot claims that the game is now a PlayStation 3 exclusive and development on the other versions has halted. "The official statement on PC and Xbox 360 is that these platforms are not confirmed," Ubisoft told the site, noting that it is open to "new partnerships." With the game originally announced for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, mentions of the PC and Xbox 360 editions disappeared from the official fact sheet and site in late May. At the time, an Ubisoft representative avoided using "exclusive" when discussing the fall 2007 release of the PlayStation 3 version. "We just felt that PS3 needed some love," the rep chuckled. The next day, Free Radical co-founder and GoldenEye 007 (N64) veteran David Doak noted that development was proceeding on all platforms, but that the game would debut on PlayStation 3 first. Shacknews has contacted Ubisoft for clarification. For more on the game, check out our E3 impressions or the trailer below:

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There's a new Haze preview on IGN, offering impressions of driving around in co-op mode.

Over at bit-tech.net you can find a Haze preview, offering hands-on impressions of the new Free Radical shooter.

With the incredible work they've done on the TimeSplitters series, David Doak and his FPS experts at Nottingham-based Free Radical have set an overwhelmingly high bar for any forthcoming titles. Currently a PlayStation 3 exclusive--for the rest of this year, anyway--Haze marks the company's entrance into the current console generation, and Ubisoft brand manager Nate Mordo demoed some of the game's newest features for me at this year's E3. Ubisoft had already unveiled some parts of the game's story, but the company revealed further information on the plot at E3, including a gameplay-influencing twist. It's the year 2048, and you play as Shane Carpenter, a soldier in a private military corporation called Mantel Global Industries. As part of a Mantel troop outfit, you've been sent to an unstable country where a group of rebels called the Promise Hand have been causing trouble and doing all sorts of generally rebellious things. What Ubisoft revealed is that about a third of the way through the game, you realize you've been fighting for the wrong side and join the freedom fighters in their freedom-filled freedom fight. The ability to play as a rebel isn't limited to the solo campaign, as multiplayer modes will allow players to choose their side as well. Though Mordo wouldn't reveal much about the multiplayer modes, he said a variety of objective-based modes would make use of the story's corporate soldiers versus rebels theme. Mordo assured me that traditional deathmatches and other multiplayer mainstays wouldn't be neglected either. With Free Radical at the helm, multiplayer is guaranteed to be a frantically fervid experience--the company has already confirmed the existence of four-player online co-op. Unique abilities give the Mantel soldiers and rebels distinctive styles of play, and performance drug-enhanced Mantel abilities especially showcase the game's proprietary graphics engine. Making use of a drug called Nectar, Mantel soldiers have several abilities to afford them advantages against unlucky uprisers, in addition to mentally blocking the horrors of war. An ability called Nectar Perception highlights enemy bodies among the dense forest for easy targeting, and Nectar Focus takes this one step further by offering headshot-enabling superaim. Nectar Foresight creates a nice looking ripple effect to warn of incoming danger like grenades, and Melee Blast powers soldiers up for close range rebel-ramming smashes. Where the Mantel soldiers are superpowered and heavily armed, rebels are stealthy and opportunistic. The main tactic Rebels have is to use Mantel soldiers' own Nectar superdrug against them. Overdosing on nectar causes troopers to become confused, resulting in friendly fire or even suicide. If you're playing a Mantel soldier who overdoses, you'll be unable to control your weapon fire, with both friends and foes appearing as black silhouettes. Rebels can make Nectar grenades made from dead Mantel troopers, and they can also smear Nectar on their knives for throwing. The blast of a Nectar grenade or wound from a Nectar-coated knife will cause a Matel soldier to OD on the dangerous drug. Rebels can steal weapons from Mantel troopers, scavenge any fallen armaments for bullets, and play dead to avoid detection. Using a proprietary engine, Haze has some truly gorgeous graphics, though it doesn't quite reach the zenith of in-game visuals like those of Crytek's upcoming Crysis. Bloom lighting in a lush beach area was readily visible, with sunlight streaming from behind palm trees. Environments in the game aren't fully destructible, though some structures feature destructible elements. Mordo said the team took this approach to make better use of processing power than having bullet holes appear in every rock hit by shrapnel. This makes sense, but just means other areas of gameplay will have to be fairly solid to make up for the lack of realism. Free Radical still has a lot left to unveil about Haze before the game's expected release this November. If the company can perform up to its own high standards, PS3 owners looking for frantic shooter action may get their holiday wishes granted.