Koch Media acquires Timesplitters and Second Sight IP
But not Haze
Koch Media has picked up the cult favourite Timesplitters IP from Crytek.
The three games in the series were developed by Free Radical Design, which also created Second Sight - a game that Koch Media has also acquired. The final Free Radical Design product, the disappointing Haze, doesn't appear to be part of the deal.
Free Radical Design hit financial difficulties after Haze and were acquired by Crytek to work on Homefront: The Revolution. The studio and IP were later sold to Koch and rebranded Deep Silver Dambuster.
Koch says it is actively working on products for both brands.
"We are hugely excited to have acquired Timesplitters," said Koch CEO Klemens Kundratitz. "The original games gave fans a massive content offer and provided a pure and genuinely fun arcade shooter experience. We have many fans of the Timesplitters series among our own staff who are passionate about creating a product that will thrill today's gaming audience."
Timesplitters was known for its humour and refusal for taking the genre seriously, but also for its impressive multiplayer. The first Timesplitters was an early hit on PS2. It was created by many of the former team at Rare who worked on GoldenEye and Perfect Dark.
Crytek has always been nervous about the reception a fourth game in the series would receive and had been reluctant to continue the franchise. For its cult popularity, Timesplitters struggled slightly in a market that, at the time, was awash with more serious war and sci-fi shooters.
A fan-made revival project called Timesplitters Rewind, a remake of the best parts of the original games, has been in the works since 2013. The last update was given in December 2017.