Crytek has shared its official word on yesterday's MAXIMUM BUYOUT of Free Radical Design, revealing that the Nottingham TimeSplitters dev is to be renamed 'Crytek UK'.
The Frankfurt, Germany based developer said that FRD would now be "integrated into Crytek's network".
"Free Radical Design is a great fit to Crytek and its culture, given that Free Radical has a proven track record on delivering high quality games. The combination of this team, the Crytek network and our CryEngine technology will be a foundation for outstanding gaming experiences and a magnet for the best talent in the UK."
43 jobs were saved in the buyout, which is a good thing. But renaming the company? Won't that take away its unique identity? Discuss below.
Comments
22 comments so far...
Mogs on 5 Feb '09 said:
They obviously haven't learned from EA's mistakes when it comes to absorbing other developers.
But if they're gonna insist on renaming them, surely Crytek Console is a better name as that's obviously what Free Radical will be.
headspin on 5 Feb '09 said:
great news, should mean the star wars battlefront game will be finished and released!!!!!
Mogs on 5 Feb '09 said:
No, that's already gone to another developer. The Battlefront game that FRD were working on will never see the light of day.
WHERESMYMONKEY on 5 Feb '09 said:
'WHATS IN A NAME A ROSE BY ANY OTHER WOULD SMELL AS SWEET'
Don't care about the name change so long as they get back to work on timesplitters 4.
Might be a sign that crytek are going to start making console games. maybe port a certain popular PC game???
JimSteele on 5 Feb '09 said:
Jeez that was quick.
Anyway, what's important is that those people still have their jobs.
pishers on 5 Feb '09 said:
if i was a games developer living in the uk i know who i would apply for job to. crytek have the best tech to work with so it would be a great opportunity.
Terribly_Mauled on 5 Feb '09 said:
The Germans are coming! The Germans are coming! Hurrah!
The_KFD_Case on 5 Feb '09 said:
That made me chuckle. Cheers. Heck, the Germans have already *arrived*!
White Thrall on 5 Feb '09 said:
Why "MAXIMUM BUYOUT"? Seems I only visit this site to bitch about the writing now.
Anarion on 5 Feb '09 said:
Crytek is getting bigger and bigger, if they start publishing their own games EA and Ubisoft may get tough competitor.
collyboy187 on 5 Feb '09 said:
i dont see how it will affect the devs identity. when dma changed to rockstar north all that changed was the logos when gta loads up!!
headspin on 5 Feb '09 said:
who has it gone to?
AlexRat on 5 Feb '09 said:
I remember seeing a video interviewing someone at Crytek and asking about the difficulties of being a 'violent' game developer in Germany; he said if it ever got bad enough they'd consider moving.
Maybe this could mean they end up here entirely in future?
ginsin on 5 Feb '09 said:
"Crytek Console"?
We all know not to come to you for ideas for company names then.
Good news anyway.
tmalamute on 5 Feb '09 said:
haze sucked, but it had some good points, if the makers of the fantastic crysis can push them in the right direction, I think time splitters 4 could be great.....
Mogs on 5 Feb '09 said:
Rebellion (allegedly).
up2nogood316 on 5 Feb '09 said:
this seems a sure sign that free radical is not going to be anything like it was before. so i guess this means timesplitters 4 will go the same way as battlefront 3.
poor free radical will be stuck with porting boring crysis engine jungle games to the ps3/360 going at 7fps i expect, great
starsail on 5 Feb '09 said:
Unfortunately Free Radical is tied to Haze which is tied to bad press and no investing, good move for Crytec but the new name is a bit lame. TS4 lives on, now all we need is a console Crysis port and us console onwers will arrive for the second date with Crytec .
quintus on 5 Feb '09 said:
I don't like the name change too much, hell i even hated it when Free Rad changed their logo,( i guess i'm just not too hot on change).
Also they won't get a choice in what engine they use, i'm not sure whether that's good or bad though.
jubbgi01 on 5 Feb '09 said:
A reference to Crysis in which when you use one of your suit powers, it says "MAXIMUM ARMOUR" or "MAXIMUM STRENGTH". As long as these guys have jobs, I couldn't care less what it's called.
Domin666 on 6 Feb '09 said:
HOLY S put 2 and 2 together think time splitters would look with the crytec engine bloody el
mental77 on 6 Feb '09 said:
just 1 big problem crysis will never come out on a games consloe sorry to tell you or kill any dreams you have of playing crysis on a console its never gonna happen as much as id like it too crysis is quite litterally to dam hard to port to consoles.