Free Radical Design closes down

Free Radical Design, the company behind Timesplitters and Haze, has officially shut down today with reports coming from staff that they arrived at work today to find the office locked and security guards preventing access.

According to GamesIndustry.biz it is understood that several key members of staff, including senior executives, had already left the company recently despite previous claims that the developer was doing well.

The closure is inevitably going to be at least partly caused by the commercial and critical flop of the developers last title, PlayStation 3 exclusive Haze.

The company had at least one secret project in development, rumoured to be a new Timesplitters game, as well as an unnamed project being developed with Lucasarts. The Lucasarts project was rumoured to be Star Wars: Battlefront III, which is thought to have been handed to Rebellion Software.

"If something happens in 2009 I'm sure we'll be prepared to comment - but from where I'm sitting, whatever happens is far more likely to be positive than negative," director Steve Ellis told GI.biz just last month.

Just today then we've seen two major companies close and a huge amount ofjobs being cut. Is the economy getting you down? Let us know in the forums.