TimeSplitters
TimeSplitters is a series of first-person shooter video games developed by Free Radical Design. The games are often considered spiritual successors to the Nintendo 64 titles GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark, due to overlapping elements in gameplay, design, and development team. Each game features a time travelling element in which players battle across a diverse number of locations and periods in history.
The series' three games were released between 2000 and 2005, with the first as an exclusive launch title for the PlayStation 2. Development on a fourth game was being undertaken by a reformed version of Free Radical, owned by Deep Silver, a subsidiary of Embracer Group, but the game was cancelled when Free Radical was closed down in 2023.
The trilogy was re-released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 as PS2 classics in 2024, with trophy support, a rewind feature and improved loading times.
Games
''TimeSplitters''
The first game in the series was developed by Free Radical Design and released in October 2000, alongside the launch of the PlayStation 2. The game's story focuses around a temporal war against the TimeSplitters, creatures that use time crystals to travel through time, and by doing so, are disrupting human history. Its levels take place across different time periods between the years 1935 and 2035.''TimeSplitters 2''
The second game in the series was released in October 2002. Unlike its predecessor, TimeSplitters 2 was also released for the Xbox and GameCube in addition to the PlayStation 2. It featured similar story elements to the previous game, based around the TimeSplitters and their time crystals spread across multiple centuries, and expanded the concept heavily, including the introduction of characters that would later be used in its sequel, such as the lead character, Sergeant Cortez, a parody of Riddick.''TimeSplitters: Future Perfect''
The series' third installment was released in March 2005. Future Perfects story played a larger role than in prior games in exploring the origins of the TimeSplitter species, introducing their creator, Jacob Crow, and including the concept of characters interacting with their own past and future selves. This was the first TimeSplitters game to feature online multiplayer, which was included for the Xbox and PlayStation 2; however, this feature was omitted from the GameCube version.''TimeSplitters Rewind''
On November 29, 2012, it was revealed that, partly in response to a petition for the release of an HD version of the series' original trilogy, a group of fans had been given permission by Crytek to develop a TimeSplitters mod using CryEngine 3. The project lead, Michael Hubicka, stated that:"TimeSplitters 4 is our ultimate goal, but first we have to convince Crytek there is sufficient demand for the series through HD Collection."The game, named TimeSplitters Rewind, combines "greatest hits" elements from across the trilogy. The team have stated that, although the engine gives Rewind more of a modern look, they "didn't plan on fixing something that isn't broken." It features both story and multiplayer modes and is free of charge on the PC. The development team originally planned to develop the game using the Unreal Engine 4; however, in 2017, they revealed an intention to instead use CryEngine 3, due to concerns that the Unreal version would be unable to "use the TimeSplitters IP and would likely have to re-brand."
In January 2020, the team announced a shift in the game's intended release model, stating that they would begin by releasing a small, but "feasible" amount of content initially, followed later by further maps and content. In September 2020, new gameplay footage was released, over which the project's lead writer stated that "the game is looking and feeling really close", and had 57 people working on it. This was followed by a further update in December 2021 which indicated that the game was entering a "second round of QA testing", although no release window was provided at the time. However, on October 26, 2025, the anniversary of the North American release of the original TimeSplitters, the Rewind team launched an official website for the game, which prominently featured a countdown to November 23, the date when the game released.
Future and cancelled games
''TimeSplitters 4''
In June 2007, the Official UK PlayStation Magazine reported on a rumour that another installment of the TimeSplitters series was in development by Free Radical as an exclusive for the PlayStation 3. In the following August, Rob Yescombe, scriptwriter for the series' previous title, confirmed that "TimeSplitters 4 is happening", but stated that the game was "in the very early concept stages, and as yet it's unsigned to any publisher." Despite the previously rumoured PS3 exclusivity, Yescombe stated that no specific release platforms had been established. "I'm sure it's possible to do a control scheme that works", co-creator David Doak added, when asked about his thoughts on developing a first-person shooter for the Wii. Of the game's timeline, Yescombe stated that "the game's not a very long way away but it's not a very short way away either. It's somewhere in the middle."A further announcement of the game took place on the Free Radical website the following October. An early logo revealed for the game was a parody of the Gears of War logo, with a monkey head replacing the skull from the original. Free Radical also sent out an early teaser trailer depicting a monkey in Master Chief's combat armour from the Halo franchise. This led to expectation of "in-game potshots" at those games and other gaming franchises, a prediction confirmed by Yescombe:
"In the past Timesplitters has been very satirical at the expense of movies, this time it will be satirical at the expense of video games."Free Radical released further details on TimeSplitters 4 in 2008, mentioning that it would not use the much-criticised Haze engine, instead opting for some "new and double shiny tech;" however, after going into administration, Free Radical was bought out by Crytek and rebranded as Crytek UK in February 2009. Following this acquisition, the TimeSplitters project was subsequently placed "on hold." In a later interview, co-creator Steve Ellis confirmed that:
"TimeSplitters 4 was in the very early stages of development when Free Radical went into administration... A small playable demo was shown to several publishers, but it didn't attract any publishing deals."The poor reception for Free Radical's previous game, Haze, was cited as one of the main reasons for the lack of publisher interest, alongside the lack of marketability for "a game that is based around a diverse set of characters and environments."
On June 14, 2011, the website VideoGamer.com, citing "a high-ranking industry source at Crytek," revealed that the company was working on a new TimeSplitters game, to be released on "the next generation of consoles". The game was expected to utilize CryEngine 3 and DirectX 11 technology. In 2012, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli expressed desire to work on the project, but also noted concern about its possible reception. He mentioned that crowdfunding a sequel had been suggested to him, but deemed doing so to be inappropriate for a larger company such as Crytek. Yerli's comments about a possible crowdfunding campaign prompted a petition to encourage such a venture, which Yerli himself endorsed; however, as of February 2014, the petition's page had reached only approximately half of the desired 100,000 supporters.
On April 27, 2012, a spokesperson from Crytek confirmed that TimeSplitters 4 was "not in development", and in June 2012, Yerli stated that:
"Look, I wish we were working on it. The thing with TimeSplitters is, if we made a sequel to TimeSplitters, nobody would accept this apart from some fans, and we don't know how big the fan community is unfortunately."In July 2013, TechRadar spoke to Ellis who, when asked if TimeSplitters 4 would ever be released on 8th generation consoles, replied with a statement suggesting it was highly unlikely:
"I don't think there's any chance that's going to happen, you always got to the point where the marketing person in the room would say 'I don't know how to sell this' because they want a character that they can put on the front of the box. Every marketing person and every publisher we spoke to 'You can't have that as your selling point' and maybe the sales figures of previous games backed that up."This prediction was made more concrete by the shutdown of Crytek UK in 2014, with the majority of the company's staff moving to Deep Silver's Dambuster Studios.
In April 2018, a collection of previously unrevealed concept art for the game was made available on Reddit, showing characters from multiple time periods and locations, including Ancient Greece and 1950s United States.
''TimeSplitters 2'' HD remake
During an interview in 2012 about their mobile game studio, Crash Lab, former Free Radical team members Steve Ellis, Martin Wakeley and Lee Musgrave confirmed that an HD version of TimeSplitters 2 had been in development as a downloadable product during 2008; however, the product was never released before Free Radical shut down. Ellis expressed a desire to see the HD version released eventually, opining that "it could be the catalyst that is required in order to raise enough interest in TimeSplitters 4 that a publisher might want to fund it."As an easter egg within Homefront: The Revolution, developed by Dambuster Studios and released by Deep Silver in 2016, players could use an in-game arcade machine to play the first two levels of TimeSplitters 2, remade in high-definition. During 2021 interviews, developer Matt Phillips revealed that the game actually contained a full 4K resolution remake of the game. The unlock code required to access the full version, including multiplayer features, if the arcade machine were moved to a different map, had since been lost by Phillips: however, he had given it previously to a friend to "leak" in a Discord channel, which the friend had been banned for from the channel, thereby allowing Xbox principal software engineer Spencer Perreault to obtain the code several days after the interview and share it on Twitter. An insider source later confirmed to Eurogamer that the unlock codes were from the original game likely for testing or press versions and that the easter egg had only ever been intended to cover the first two levels; however, the fastest way to include those levels was to include the full story mode, with a "soft-lock" in place. Dambuster only realised there was a way to unlock the full game after Homefront shipped.
In another easter egg, this time within the November 2020 "Fallen God" expansion for SpellForce 3, published by THQ Nordic, whose parent company, the Embracer Group, acquired the rights to TimeSplitters in 2018, players found an item for sale by an in-game vendor named "TimeSplitters 2 Remake." The item contained the following in-game blurb:
"It's finally coming! The iconic shooter, which has stood the test of time to join the era of modern games."This led to speculation that the company were planning to release this remake as a genuine product; however, a spokesperson for THQ Nordic confirmed that the item was "just an innocent Easter egg" and the vendor was "a character known especially for not telling the truth." A subsequent statement from THQ stated that:
"The intention behind those easter eggs was pure fun. When Koch Media and Deep Silver are ready to talk about TimeSplitters, they will make sure to get heard."