More corporate fat trimming from Swedish games and media holdings company Embracer Group, who continues to show the repercussions of their grand amassing of developers and publishers in recent years. The latest casualty of their self-inflicted restructuring is studio Free Radical, known for their successful Timesplitters series. According to IGN, a spokesperson pointed them in the direction of a LinkedIn post from Plaion, a publisher owned by Embracer Group, making the news official, following months of speculation.

"It's with a heavy heart that we must announce yet another difficult decision. Today, we have to confirm the official closure of Free Radical Design, and say goodbye to many remarkable, talented and hard-working people. We are beyond grateful for their incredible contributions to Plaion and wish them the best of luck and success on their professional journey from here on out."

Considering the news that a Timesplitters 4 was in the middle of development, this is a crushing blow to fans of the series. A new entry hasn't been seen since 2005's Future Perfect for the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox. The dominoes continue to fall for Embracer Group, as this follows the closure of Volition back in September, and the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake seemingly dead before anything has come to fruition.

Company CEO Lars Wingefors is afraid of anything he says becoming a headline (referenced to the KOTOR Remake), however, it takes a degree of effort to give fans, reporters, and pundits a reason to think otherwise. I'll probably be back again in a few weeks with your monthly Embracer Group update.

SOURCE: IGN