The Embracer Group layoffs continue, and this time it looks like it’s going to be the studio that everyone was happy to see return; Free Radical Design. According to a source that leaked information to Videogameschronicle, an email from one of Embracer’s subsidiaries, Plaion, has confirmed that the UK-based studio will indeed be shut down by December 11, after a consultation process. The studio was under evaluation by Embracer to see if it warranted a closure, and while the company themselves have yet to comment on this publicly, it’s more than likely a matter of time before we get an official announcement.
“As we move through the consultation process and face the potential closure of Free Radical Design on 11 December 2023, I want to express my gratitude for your commitment and the remarkable work you’ve done and still keep doing,” the email states. The sources also state that this email was sent out in a company-wide threas from Embracer CEO Lars Wingfors. According to UK law policies, Plaion is required to consult Free Radical employees at least 30 days before making any sort of redundancies. It’s also important to note that while the writing may be on the wall for the moment, it still has not been officially confirmed that Free Radical Design will be closed as a result of this. It’s entirely possible that Embracer will keep the studio going, or they might even sell it off to another interested party.
The layoffs/closures of developers under Embracer has been well-documented over the course of the entire year. Just last week, Wingfors himself confirmed that around 900 employees were let go, which is a massive amount of developers losing their jobs. As for Free Radical Design, we can only hope that Embracer will allow them to continue, or at least find them a buyer who will keep them going. Otherwise, we will lose them a second time.
The return of Free Radical was one of the most celebrated moments in recent memory. Embracer, then still going by THQ Nordic, acquired the rights to the Time Splitters and Second Sight IPs back in 2018, which sparked rumors that the company would attempt to bring back those franchises. In May 2021, they went further with this concept and announced that Time Splitters was returning and that Free Radical Design, the original studio that created the series, was also being revived to develop.