It’s not an unfamiliar story, but one that may explain why the former TimeSplitters devs faltered with Haze. Free Radical co-founder Karl Hilton, now at new home Crytek UK, explains to Develop how “technical issues” affected the final product.

“We hit a few stumbling blocks on it that meant we spent more time trying get the game running properly and less time to design the game properly,” Hilton says, lamenting that Haze “wasn’t the game it should have been.”

Hilton’s still up on the PS3, though, despite Haze’s critical and commercial performance. He calls Sony’s platform a “powerful machine but a difficult one to get the best out of.”

And believe it or not, his new employers will get the best out of it, Hilton says.

“We know the PS3 can do amazing things, and no one has pushed it as far as it can go, but I think the CryEngine gives us a great head start on it,” he says.

I think the lesson we’ve all learned from this is that whatever Korn touches turns to shit.

PS3 ‘technical issues’ hampered Haze development [Develop via Joystiq]

Crytek purchased the TimeSplitters developer in February, following a period of reorganising that resulted in the layoff of 140 employees. In an interview with Develop, CEO Cevat Yerli explains that Crytek was picked to purchase the failing Free Radical because they offered the remaining staff the opportunity to create the sort of games they’ve always wanted to create.

“We are working with Free Radical on things that they always dreamed to do” Yerli said. “We are providing the team a roadmap and the chance to grow, which is why we were picked as a partner, and not anyone else.”

Hopefully those dreams include finishing TimeSplitters 4.

Crytek giving Free Radical ‘dream projects’ [Develop]

Look, it’s great for the staff at Time Splitters developer Free Radical that the studio found a buyer. Nobody likes to be out of a job. But did they need a name change?

A condition of the purchase is that, as they are assimilated into Crytek’s (the studio’s buyers) European mainframe, Free Radical will no longer be known as Free Radical. They’ll be known as Crytek UK.

Sure, it’s naught but a name change. It’ll still be made up of the same guys, and – provided they don’t go and do something stupid like pitch Haze 2 – they’ll probably come up with some excellent, excellent games.

But as has happened before with Westwood (EA), Psygnosis (SCE Liverpool) and Origin (EA, again), as soon as the developers are brought into a larger fold and lose that name, that identity, we lose a little something as well. A little of that recognition, a little of that intangible continuity that gives certain developers a certain pedigree.

Ah well! Now that’s out of our system, it could be worse. We could have lost the whole damn studio, and that just wouldn’t have been good for anyone.

Free Radical to be rebranded Crytek UK [VG247]

Timesplitters and Haze developer Free Radical Design has found financial sanctuary in German developer Crytek, who is reported to have purchased the struggling Nottingham, UK dev for an undisclosed amount.

According to 1UP, Free Radical scriptwriter Rob Yescombe confirmed the purchase of Free Radical by the developers of Far Cry and Crysis, saying that the decade-old company “is now out of the woods.”

Free Radical closed its doors in December, rather surprisingly to some, as employees showed up to locked doors and subsequent mass “redundancies.”

The studio’s closure led to details on two of its projects, Star Wars Battlefront III and TimeSplitters 4, being leaked far and wide.

We just hope that the company is truly out of the woods. And by that, we mean having foregone any delusions of a Haze sequel.

Crytek Purchases Free Radical, Says Haze Scriptwriter [1UP]

The final fate of Timesplitters developer Free Radical will be revealed this week, with a formal announcement from the company’s administrator ReSolve Partners to take place later this week.

Free Radical went into administration late last year, following several canceled projects and the dismal performance of their PlayStation 3 exclusive, Haze, earlier in 2008. After laying off a large percentage of the developer’s staff, administration firm ReSolve Partners began offering the company for sale, indicating strong interest from multiple parties. Now ReSolve readies an official announcement for Wednesday, February 4th, when we’ll find out what has come of said strong interest.

With the fate of at least one extremely compelling property on the line, we’ll be waiting with bated breath for Wednesday’s announcement. Stay tuned!

Fate of Free Radical Design to be decided this week [GamesIndustry.biz]

These are such things as dreams are made on, the colourful concepts of dying developers, the universes that will never be.

Oh man, oh man, oh man. This has got to be the coolest looking Obi-Wan Kenobi I’ve ever seen.

Fresh from the Kotaku source line come these amazing concept images of what would have happened if Obi-Wan Kenobi turned to the Dark Side.

Here’s what Free Radical did to turn the lovable teacher into a frightening hermit for what would have been Star Wars Battlefront III:

Tattered rags for clothes, like Yoda’s but more decayed.
Yellowed teeth and claw like nails
Relics and artifacts with strong dark side resonance kept in pouches and threaded through his clothes.
Belts and straps made from Krayt dragon leather
Fur lining from Wampa slain on his travels
Many layers of robes, cloaks and cloth mask his shriveled wiry frame.
Mostly a hermit, Dark Obi-Wan wanders searching for places and things with strong connections to the dark side.

I sure hope the new developers take this in the same direction.

Leaked Star Wars Battlefront 3 Gameplay Footage

Remember that amazing footage of Star Wars Battlefront III we caught a glimpse of yesterday in the leaked footage? It looks like we’re never going to be able to play that game.

SPOnG reports that a former Free Radical employee has verified that the footage is genuine, but that the game has already been passed to a new developer. Worse still, the tech that allowed you to fly from the ground to air and then into orbit stayed with Free Radical. The new developer, the source says, will now be using cutscenes.

The source did confirm that my careful listening did pick up the correct phrase in the cutscene, with a Sith saying “stick to the plan Kenobi” and that the Free Radical game was to feature another attempt to turn a Jedi to the Dark Side.

No word if that made the hand-off.

And now a moment of silence for what would have been a great game.

Exclusive: Star Wars: Battlefront III Tech Dead [SPOnG]

Looking through that beautiful footage of Star Wars Battlefront III again and again and again this morning, I couldn’t help but notice something:

It sounds like a Sith, perhaps even a hoodless Palpatine, is telling “Kenobi” to “stick to the plan” about four minutes and 55 seconds into the video. The actual quote is “Stick to the plan Kenobi.”

What’s this now? Could it be that LucasArts has approved another storyline that deals with the internal struggle against the darkside, this time featuring Kenobi? I haven’t a clue but it does seem to show that the jedi will make some sort of appearance in the game.

Whether he’s a playable main character or a walk-on appearance remains to be seen. Maybe some of the more devoted fans of Star Wars could pick through the trailer for me and explain, if for no reason other than to let me stop trying to figure it out.

Oh, one other thing, it maybe that the last seconds of the video show the platforms the game will be on. Too fuzzy to know for sure, but kind of looks like PS3, PC, Xbox 360 and Wii. Or maybe I’m smoking something.

Someone buy Free Radical already and then fill me in.

More leaks springing from the now dead in the water Free Radical, it seems.

We’ve already caught a glimpse at some pretty impressive TimeSplitter 4 and Star Wars Battlefront 3 art. Now we’ve got what is supposed to be early footage of Star Wars Battlefront 3.

The footage, we’re told, was taken at an internal alpha meeting with Free Radical back in November. It looks pretty amazing and features some pretty detailed cut scenes.