TimeSplitters Rewind Is Still Moving Forward, Big Announcement Inbound

TimeSplitters Rewind is a project based on the TimeSplitters intellectual property. It's being worked on by members of the gaming community as well as former members from Free Radical Design, the studio that was in charge of developing the first three TimeSplitters games. Given Crytek's recent shake-up there's been some concern over what would happen with TimeSplitters Rewind, and we now finally have an answer.

Blues News rolls out an account of the events, as the project is still moving forward. There's also a big announcement inbound regarding the game.

For those that don't know, Crytek is in charge of the TimeSplitters IP after bringing in Free Radical Design under their fold. The studio was changed into Crytek UK, and while Crytek, the parent company, had no actual plans to do anything with TimeSplitters, often hinting that if the market interest was there that they would pursue another game for the franchise. However, after a Facebook petition got underway, it didn't quite result in the sort of development momentum that some gamers had hoped for.

Nevertheless, the dedicated community continued to pursue TimeSplitters and eventually a new project called Rewind got under the way, focusing on remaking the multiplayer maps from the previous TimeSplitters titles, headed up by Michael Hubicka.

Crytek gave the team their blessings to work on the project, however it had to be done for free and they couldn't use any of the assets from the previous games, which meant they had to undergo the painstaking task of recreating all of the game's assets from scratch.

We eventually learned that the game was also in development for the PS4, and that the team was working to get a playable alpha done as soon as possible.

However, things have sort of taken a striking turn, as Crytek has been in the news lately for their financial troubles.

The company has undergone a massive financial restructuring after reports from back in April indicated that things were not going well. Multiple reports surfaced in June indicating that Crytek's staff were in in disarray and that many key members had not been paid in months.

Crytek, at the time, denied the rumors. However, later the development director for Homefront: The Revolution left the company. This was later followed by one of the lead graphics engineers for the CryEngine taking up his ball and heading into id Software's yard to work on the id Tech 6 engine for the upcoming Doom game.

Eventually Crytek came forward to acknowledge that they are closing the Crytek UK and Crytek US headquarters and focusing more on publishing and helping license out the CryEngine. Of course, Crytek UK is where the staff are located working on TimeSplitters Rewind – they're also the studio name that's still sitting on the TimeSplitters IP.

Worries mounted that TimeSplitters Rewind may have fallen between the cracks after Crytek announced that they would be moving away from developing various games, and shifting priorities on projects as well as selling off Homefront: The Revolution to Deep Silver.

However, Michael Hubicka makes it known that TimeSplitters Rewind is still moving forward and there is big news inbound. You can learn more by visiting the official TS Rewind website.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.