Update: Crytek today confirmed last night's news, announcing it indeed purchasing the assets and business of Free Radical Design. The forty-some people still left at the company following December's layoffs and bankruptcy will be retained. The studio will now be known as Crytek UK.

Original: Though an official announcement on the fate of TimeSplitters developer Free Radical isn't due until tomorrow, staffer Rob Yescombe has already spilled the beans.

Crysis developer Crytek is now the proud owner of the bankrupt development studio, Yescombe, a script writer, told 1UP. "It's the smoothest deal we've ever done. It all went through quickly, efficiently, fantastically," he said.

At present, it's unclear if Crytek will enable Free Radical to regain some of the 140 employees it lost last December, or if work will continue on TimeSplitters 4.

It's a fairly safe bet to say that Haze and TimeSplitters developer Free Radical was definitely working on Star Wars: Battlefront III before firing most of its staff, as ex-artist Richard Smith has posted a few models from the project as examples of his work.

And while the models have since been yanked from Smith's official site, fansite SWBF3.de was able to archive and republish the images, which include in-game models of Han Solo and various other characters, all apparently from 2007.

The current status of Star Wars: Battlefront III is unknown, though rumors suggest the multiplayer-focused shooter has been assigned to Rebellion, which handled the PSP releases of Battlefront II and Renegade Squadron.

Rumors of Battlefront III popped up this past July, after Amazon.com briefly listed the as-yet-uannounced game for release on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PSP.

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.

Free Radical was known to be working on TimeSplitters 4, and rumored to be developing Star Wars: Battlefront III for LucasArts. An anonymous staff member recently informed 1UP that the studio had "a number of cool projects in development--two of which are getting quite a lot of publisher interest already."

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.

All of Free Radical's 185 employees have been paid through the end of December. The studio hopes to make an announcement regarding its fate later this month, following an analysis of its "financial position" by Resolve Partners.

Along with TimeSplitters 4, rumors suggest Free Radical was working on Star Wars: Battlefront III for LucasArts, with some claiming that the title has since been moved to Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron developer Rebellion.

Original Story: According to a report by GamesIndustry.biz and numerous other sources, UK developer Free Radical Design is closing its doors. The... 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.

Ubisoft also released a new trailer for the game, viewable below.

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