TimeSplitters 4 Development

Written by guest contributor Sgt. Dole

Ever wanted to know what happened to the TimeSplitters series? After waiting years for additional news on the development of TimeSplitters 4, and hearing only rumors last summer from "inside sources" at Crytek who said the game is in development for the Xbox 720 using DirectX 11, we discovered that the game’s long awaited return might be sooner than we thought.

In case you have forgotten, the developers of TimeSplitters, Free Radical, were purchased by Crytek in 2009 and renamed Crytek UK. The beloved FPS series has been on a 7-year vacation, last seen in its third installment, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, back in 2005 for the Gamecube, Xbox and PlayStation 2. The 4th game in the series however, has been talked about for a while now, and more recently by a statement quoting a, "high-ranking industry source at Crytek", which stated that the 4th installment was already in production. They were planning for its release for the next generation PlayStation and Xbox consoles, which is exactly what we'd always hoped for.

This is a far cry from what Crytek co-founder Avni Yerli said last year about them still deciding what best to do with the TimeSplitters IP and that there were no concrete plans for the next game in the series.

In the latest UK issue of the Official Xbox Magazine it was reported that a new Crytek FPS could already be in the works, namely TimeSplitters 4, but there are side notes that state that if it truly is currently in development, there's "no guarantee that it’ll be released." As stated in OXM:

"Trusted OXM sources have claimed that they've seen TimeSplitters 4 running. That's no guarantee that it'll be released - at least one version of Star Wars: Battlefront 3 was cancelled without ever being announced - but it's a promising sign. If we do get a proper sequel, we're likely to see the old games appear, too."

The UK version of the Official PlayStation Magazine has also stated that the new TimeSplitters will be announced relatively soon, so hopefully the word gets out there so the rumors can finally be settled for once and we can get back to a golden age of FPS multiplayers. Crytek UK confirmed back in 2007 that it definitely had TimeSplitters 4 in the works, including a release of concept art before falling off the map. Still, if it means that the crazy multiplayer shooter returns to our consoles, who would be mad about hearing that?

The Timesplitters series always had a dedicated cult following but never lit up the sales charts. Crytek has a bit more presence than Free Radical ever did, and they could definitely help push the series to the mainstream. It certainly deserves it. Along with TimeSplitters 4, Crytek is working (officially) on Crysis 3 and Homefront 2 and appear to be hitting all styles of the FPS genre.

Source: OPM, OXM (via CVG)