European publishing giant THQ Nordic has said that it is not teasing a remake of popular 2002 first-person shooter TimeSplitters 2.

Speaking to Eurogamer, a spokesperson for the company said that players being able to buy 'TimeSplitters 2 Remake' from a vendor in its game SpellForce 3 was intended to be a joke and nothing more. Many had presumed that this was THQ Nordic teasing that this was set to be announced.

"This is just an innocent Easter egg," they said.

"The vendor in the game is a character known especially for not telling the truth."

THQ Nordic bought the TimeSplitters and Second Sight IPs in August 2018 via its Koch Media subsidiary, leading to fans hoping that we'd see new entries in Free Radical's beloved PS2-era series, or at least see remakes of titles in these franchises.

We do know that THQ Nordic is doing something with the IP. One of the team behind the TimeSplitters series, Steve Ellis, has been hired by Koch Media's Deep Silver publishing arm to work on the property.

There's also fan project TimeSplitters Rewind, which is still in development after THQ Nordic acquired the TimeSplitters IP. In the past, it's been common for companies to issue cease and desists against fan projects in order to protect their IP.