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Plaion confirms that Free Radical Design has closed

Plaion confirms that Free Radical Design has closed

Publisher Plaion has confirmed that TimeSplitters studio Free Radical Design has closed its doors.

In a statement to VGC, the Embracer-owned company thanked its employees for their contributions. This comes after reports that Free Radical Design was facing closure just 19 months after it was reformed.

"It's with a heavy heart that we must announce yet another difficult decision," Plaion said.

"Today, we have to confirm the official closure of Free Radical Design, and say goodbye to many remarkable, talented and hard-working people. We are beyond grateful for their incredible contributions to Plaion and wish them the best of luck and success on their professional journey from here on out."

Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors reportedly told staff last month: “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. 

“This is a challenging time for all of us but especially for you, and our focus is to support you as much as we can during this transition.”

Free Radical Design is the latest victim of Embracer's "restructuring" plan of cost cutting measures which it enacted after a $2 billion deal – reportedly with Saudi Arabia – fell through.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.