Crytek's Free Radical purchase confirmed, 40+ jobs saved

The administrators responsible for selling off the remnants of Free Radical have confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that Crytek's rumored acquisition of the company has gone ahead. Cameron Gunn of ReSolve Partners stated that "a sale completed to Crytek late last night thus preserving over 40 jobs."

[Violater]

Excellent news in these times.

[MechaGear]

Good thing someone shows confidence these days.

[Montrealien]

This news made me smile, It`s very rare that Editorials 4 Gamers does this to me.

[grkblood13]

Haze 2!!!

[Doctor_Doom]

ROFL

[PS-Wii-60]

@ Montrealien - It's strange but, the news had the same effect on me. I think because Free Radical didn't deserve their fate.

@ grkblood13 - I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[TIKUP]

yes that is brilliant news to hear but i am wondering how much crytek bought them for??

[FreestyleBarnacle]

Probably £1 and all debts. Quite a few companies have been going for that amount.

[morganfell]

I wouldn't put it past something like that. The purchase price might be just that - they assume all of the debts and keep the doors open as well as pay salaries. In the mean time Free Radical goes through a training session on Crytek's technology all the while Crytek is eating the operating costs.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

No more goverment cheese for them.

[Raoh]

good for you radical.. their small staff and publisher might have been their problem all along.

this might breath new life into the company.

___

also this is good news for the ps3. crytek wants to make a move to consoles (or at least add it to their platforms they develope for.

free radical did not make a bad game for the ps3 with haze. it was just late and outdated by the time it arrived.

this means future games if left in charge to free radical or on an advisory level will work just fine.

[heyheyhey]

TIMESPLITTERS 4 IS BACK ON YEAH BABY!!!!!!

man that's a relief, Timesplitters 4 is potentially my most anticipated shooter this year (sorry KZ2 =D)

can't wait to see what comes of this merger of epic proportions.... both are excellent shooter devs

@thor

man i knew someone would rush to this article screaming "HAZE LOL!!!!!!!"... Haze sucked because of Ubisoft, not Free Radical.. who remain top notch shooter devs

remember, these guys made Goldeneye and Perfect Dark... i trust you understand what this means

oh and Timesplitters > Halo

man can you imagine TS4 running on CryEngine 2.. sweet jesus

[thor]

Hmm I doubt it will come this year. Most of FR have been sacked anyway/moved on to that new studio. It was likely in the early stages of development as it is; Haze came out less than a year ago - and they're not going to want to rush their next project.

Again, you mention "excellent shooter devs" and yet what they produced was a last-gen FPS, a sub-par one at that. Still, you've got to hope!

[Arkham]

TimeCrysis? ;)

[Crueltylizer]

This is really good news. Timesplitters and Battlefront 3 on CryEngine 2.. :)

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Don't even tease about that crap.

Battlefront III on the CryEngine 2...

I don't masturbate...never been a masturbater...

...but this would make me reconsider.

[poeo]

never masturbated? wow. that's something.

[devilhunterx]

then explain all that blood on your hands...

[Blink_44]

Thank god. I love free radical.

[DNAgent]

You know they bought them because they loved the first Haze and wanted a sequel.

[sit down droid]

i was thinking along the lines of SW:BF3 or TS4 definantly not haze unless it has the crytek engine.

[bigjclassic]

I was getting sad about FR demise, but this totally changes things for them. I hope them all great success and put out Timesplitters 4.

[Sir Ken_Kutaragi]

Didn't the best guys from Free Radical start up a new name/company??? (Can't remember the new name)
Has Crytek got them to??? I hope so;)
My Pet Monkey will be happy!!! ;-D
'TIMESPLITTERS 4 BABY!!!' ;-P

Oh i Google it, and it said -
"Dave Doak and Steve Ellis, who were Free Radical’s co-founders, have already revealed they will be starting a new company called Pumpkin Beach - although only a handful of Free Radical employees will be making the move with them"

It was 'Pumpkin Beach'
http://darkzero.co.uk/game-...

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Two of the best FPS developers in history are working together!

EDIT: Well...yes, they'll both great too. Have you played Crysis though? You haven't lived until you've played through Crysis.

[Hercules]

what about IW and GG? im hoping crysis comes to the ps3 now, since crytek has ps3 knowledge and FR will have CE2 knowledge..combine them..

dont have a lot of money to boot up my pc..so no i havent played it..so once it comes to consoles (preferably the ps3) i will see whats the hype about, i have seen youtube videos of it though

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Think about it:

Free Radical is the team that made Goldeneye on the N64. They are part of what used to make Rare a good developer. Hopefully, they can recover from Haze.

[FantasyStar]

yeah, "hopefully". Haze to me was a representation of FRD's inability to cope with this-gen's standards. I "hope" that FRD will take into account the mistakes that happened with Haze and develop something worthwhile(not talking about TS4): but a sequel to Haze. It was a great concept! And I did enjoy the time I had when I rented it.

[Tyetan]

Great news for FR, I just hope that they fire the writer and game design lead of Haze.

[jams_shop]

Thanks you God and Crytek 40+ are going to keep their jods

[poeo]

no god had nothing to do with.. thank Crytek and Crytek only. they helped, they deserve all the credit.

you know.. what about all the other companies going bust? god didn't help them!

i hate how people always thank god when someone or many people are saved from an undesirable situation.. especially when often MOST PEOPLE AREN'T SAVED! like natural disasters etc. 5000 people die a horrible death, and one guy survives and thanks god for the blessing. that's always how it goes... so selfish. how quickly we forget those who truly suffer.

sorry i know you didnt mean to offend, i think i'm just crazy...

[Rob4Vendetta]

maybe we can now have Crysis for PS3 in 576p!!!!

[Bladestar]

They will finally focused on the Xbox 360 and the PC... where is them money is... I hope the idiot who came up with the idea to make Haze exclusive on the PS3 which was the cause of the fall of Free Radical... was not one of the jobs saved.

Crytek knows where the money is at.

[jay2]

If there was a god, things in general would be a lot better.
This is actually very bad because so many of the old staff have been sacked with no news of them returning.

[AriesFury]

Hopefully SW Battlefront III will come out

[psiom]

I wonder if Crytek acquiring Free Radical could be a sign of wanting to push into PS3 dev?

Doing 360 games wouldn't be that hard for them (as PC devs), but taking on a team that's done PS3 programming (and a finished product) would be a huge leap in that direction.

[likedamaster]

Crytek's next shooter made by Free Radical = Fail?