Free Radical to shutdown from Haze failure?
There is a rumor going around that Free Radical, the developer of Haze may be shutting down due to the poor reception of the game. As it turns out, this rumor is not entirely true. It seems that Free Radical may be in for some hard times, especially due to the economic situation. As it turns out, the studio will not be shutting down but opening up a new studio under a new name.
According to SmashPad, an anonymous source has revealed that the company has been experiencing difficulties after the release of the game Haze. As many of you may know, the game was poorly received, gaining scores in the 50 to 60 range. Albeit, other companies such as EA and Ubisoft have also had games that received scores just as low, but considering the size of Free Radical the company could easily live or die by one game.
The source also indicated that the contract between Lucas Arts and Free Radical to develop the next big Star Wars games has been yanked. This is yet to be verified at this time. The source stated that the reason for pulling the project was because Lucas Arts did not like the progress of the new Star Wars game.
According to reports, Steve Ellis the founder of Free Radical will be taking 20 ex-studio employees to open up a new company called Pumpkin Beach. It seems like this is a move to take the best talents from Free Radical and put them under a new name that doesn’t hold the stigma from Haze.
The new company may be developing games for Xbox Live and PSN with a fresh and new concept that may have nothing to do with FPS games. It will be interesting to see if this re-imaging of Free Radical will prove that the team still has the pedigree to develop hit titles.
Considering that the Free Radical team is composed of ex-Rare studio members, responsible for creating the famous GoldenEye game, it is unbelievable that such a mighty band of developers could fall so fast. I truly hope that they will be much more successful in their future projects. We owe them thanks for showing the doubters that FPS games were possible on consoles.
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44 Responses to “Free Radical to shutdown from Haze failure?”
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December 21st, 2008
Maybe if the PS3 was a little easier to develop for then they could have had time to make a better game.
December 21st, 2008
It has nothing to do with the PS3’s ease of development. Look at games such as LBP, R2, and MGS4 and look at the depth and quality the developers have gone to. Granted these studios are larger, but still It was the developers of Haze who put in a half arsed game, lousy story, gameplay and graphics. The console is NOT the problem, its how much the developer puts into the console which decides whether the game is good or not.
December 21st, 2008
“Granted these studios are larger” and owned by Sony, so therefore they had more resources at their disposal to put into developing the game. Ease of development may well have been a factor.
December 21st, 2008
And Free Radical probably had a fraction of the resources that Konami had with 200 developers and MGS being the “showcase title for PS3″.
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/15/metal-gear-solid-4-has-over-200-developers/
December 21st, 2008
time=money
I’m the could have focused more on the graphics/ story/ game play if the developers hadn’t spent all their time struggling with the PS3.
It’s just proved that it was a stupid idea for a third party to try to develop a PS3 exclusive.
December 21st, 2008
Sorry typo.
I’m sure they could have focused more on graphics/ story/ game play if the developers hadn’t spent all their time struggling with the PS3.
December 21st, 2008
@ CarlB, a good game doesn’t rely on the amount of money at your disposal. MGS4 is not owned, developed or published by Sony and is arguably the best game on the Console so far.
December 21st, 2008
Bourne,
That is why I made a separate post for Konami, explaining how they had more resources than Free Radical, with over 200 developers.
Sony also probably gave them more help and cooperation with MGS4 given their history and the fact that it would be a showcase title for the PS3.
December 21st, 2008
You made a seperate post? Either way the Console is not the reason for studios to shut down. The console cannot make or design games, its up to the studios to utilize the console. Its far too easy to blame the sales on ease/toughness of development, but in truth, these are professionals. If they couldn’t handle it they shouldn’t have even started to make it on the PS3.
December 21st, 2008
True. If they had only realized the PS3 would be tougher to develop for them, they could have wasted less of their resources on that and done a better job with a console that was easier to develop for.
December 21st, 2008
CarlB, you get what you put into. If you want to put a half arsed game on a half arsed console you get results which suit that attitude, whereas studios who put in more effort into the games and developing on the “tougher” console will get a better game and reputation.
December 21st, 2008
Konami isn’t owned by Sony.
December 21st, 2008
“If you want to put a half arsed game on a half arsed console you get results which suit that attitude”. Agreed. This is Haze.
lock_down,
yes, I know, which is why I made a separate comment for it, which explains how they had 200 developers for MGS4, not 20.
December 21st, 2008
CarlB, both agreed, Haze sucked because the studios sucked. Didn’t know how to make a decent game which is now why they’re suffering and almost out of business. This demonstrates my point that its the studios which are responsible for the games, rather that how easy/hard the console is to develop for. If it was the other way around , the PS3 wouldn’t be in development anymore.
December 21st, 2008
Bourne,
I am not familiar with the studio, only that it did have a few developers who helped bring about GoldenEye, so maybe they didn’t suck as much as you think.
I think I remember something about developers mentioning in the past how difficult the PS3 is compared to 360. I am not saying that it is the only factor, but maybe just a factor to be considered.
December 21st, 2008
After 2 years, developers can’t use the excuse that its hard to develop for. They’ve had time to explore what the hardware is capable of. In the case of Haze they either didn’t fully utilize this, or didn’t understand how to use it.
December 21st, 2008
As long as there is a Timesplitters 4, I couldn’t careless what they call themselves. Though the Lead Artist that worked on Timesplitters stopped working for Free Radical anyway, so it’d be interesting to see the new guys art direction for the game if it ever shows.
December 21st, 2008
I think the case may be that some of the smaller developers may find it easier to develop on the 360 vice the PS3, unless they get help from Sony.
December 21st, 2008
do you know WHY Haze sucked “me too”??
it was because of many factors… none of which leads to the PS3 “ease to develop for”… the AI was stupid… they ran in front of you and didnt try to kill you and no ganking… IT WAS STUPID!!! the nectar was gimmicky… it was only available for a small amount of time… and was of no use… SEE NO USE!!!
The story was stupid and the dialogues were worse… more people made fun of Haze’s dialogue than Gears of war… IMAGINE THAT!!!
it was design decisions and stupid choices that made the game crappy… not “TEH PS3″ I wonder how dead space and mirrors edge and Oblivion and call of duty has no problems in the PS3… but games like Fallout 3 and Haze SUDDENLY find themselves on the crap end…
and Insomniac had a small amount of time to develop Resistance Fall of man… how many bugs did that game have? what they didnt have was multiplayer… which was fixed by a patch…
bottom line… I thought Haze would be one of those games that sold a million and could be a decent franchise for the PS3… instead they fucked up… and now its a fucking joke…
December 21st, 2008
also.. I started playing Psychonauts… its so wonderfull… I feel like crying… you guys should play it too… its free on gametap… Im playing on gametap…
seriously… so fucking awesome…
December 21st, 2008
COD:WaW has the most useless AI in recent times. They just run up to your team members faces, and shoot at you, while your team members are pre occupied with shooting some far off enemies. And the amount of grenades are thrown are ridiculous, i can’t survive some levels on Veteran, and its the only thing between me and my first platinum trophy.
December 21st, 2008
bourne… thats only because you suck… and the PS3 is hard to develop for… you JUST DONT GET IT!!!
December 21st, 2008
DWH, you cant seriously be defending COD:WAW. Its the worst buy i’ve ever made in video gaming terms. Also, i don’t “suck” at it, i haven’t had a proper go at the final 3 levels at veteran mode. I’ve completed all the rest. Im going to have to wait for a new controller, i dropped it on the floor and bust the right analog stick. But i guess you’d just walk through veteran mode on WAW. Check the GT community forums, you’ll see everyone else is pissed at the volume of grenades and lack of AI in WAW.
DWH, whether the PS3 is or isn’t hard to develop for, different studios have had different success’ with the PS3. These are professional companies who aim to use the hardware to produce a quality game, if Free Radical couldn’t do this with Haze, they shouldn’t be making video games to not only use this as an excuse(that its hard to develop for), but also to produce a poor quality game. They should get used to the hardware before jumping head long in.
December 21st, 2008
YOU DONT GET IT YOU FUCKING PS3 FANBOY!!!
COD WaW is like the second coming of all the awesome est games ever… thats what Treyarch said… its not like they ever lie or make crappy games… also its been bought by 900000 xbox owners and 500 000 PS3 owners… we all know… the more copies they buy… the better they are…
In all seriousness… I was thinking of buying WaW… now Ill probably buy LBP… play with paint ball guns… Woooo Hooo!!!
Why wont you people listen to the Podtoid… episode 79… trust me… its fun…
December 21st, 2008
You think WAW is a mix of the best games ever?! Holy hell. You need to broaden your horizons. I was looking forward to this game, i bought it with an open mind, everyone slated it for going back to WW2 but the last WW2 game i had was MOH:frontline i think it was called. I was severely disappointed. SP was shockingly boring, MP was a rip off of COD 4 and, although i knew it wasn’t going to be innovative, i had expected something to warrant me purchasing it…sadly this wasn’t so.
December 21st, 2008
Also how can i be a PS3 fanboy when i buy a multiplatform game?!
December 21st, 2008
you dont get it bourne… you will never get into good games… all you have it crap like MGS 4 and LBP… you can never understand the complexity of games like WaW and Gears…
let me put it in laymans term… Nazis=bad… kill them… thats more than enough story you will ever need…
December 21st, 2008
OH MY GAWD!!! Ivan like hanna montana… and rocket power… may god save his soul… and zoey 101… *throws up*… no more… please no more… I cant handle it anymore…
*throws up*… Ill never get that taste out of my mouth… thanks a lot Ivan… by the way are you related to CAD by and chance???
December 21st, 2008
damn… typo… I mean “ANY CHANCE”
now its ruined…
December 21st, 2008
DWH you’re a joke.
1.) I Don’t have LBP
2.) MGS+the word crap doesn’t exist together
3.) You have such a generic taste.
4.) WAW is not complex in any sense of the word.
Your sense of gaming amuses me. If you’re only into shooters then i pity you.
December 21st, 2008
I think if (and hopefully WHEN) Sony licence the Killzone 2 engine is when developing for PS3 will get easier.
That engine is amazing.
December 21st, 2008
This is like watching 2 homeless people fighting over a steak.
December 21st, 2008
hahahahahaha
bourne… youve been brainwashed by Sony… they TELL you to think that MGS 4 is good… when it is actually generic… Splinter Cell is so much better…
1. Splinter Cell actor has been shot in real life 3 times… how many times has kojima been shot??? exactly…
2. …. youre a fat head…
December 21st, 2008
I’ve been brainwashed? yes that must be it, not the fact that i’ve played all of them (excluding metal gear 1/2 on the NES/MSX2) and loved them.
Metal gear solid is being released as a movie, published by Sony http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6165595.html
December 21st, 2008
They need to dub the entire movie with hayter’s voice.
December 21st, 2008
YOU SEE!!! bourne… more Sony propaganda… the Halo movie will be WAAAAAY better…
also… that guy from MGS 4 is now working on Halo… yeah… take that… thats a win for us people with class… stick to your crappy ps3… we gots us some more Halo…
ohhhhhh yeah….
December 22nd, 2008
See this is what happens when a battle of wits occurs when both combatants are unarmed.
December 22nd, 2008
I just registered and for one reason only – darkwhitehair, what a tool!!! But i have to say hilarious you’re arguments are so poor it’s funny and how many times can someone contradict themselves in one post… excellent stuff
December 22nd, 2008
Splinter Cell is better because the voice actor has been shot 3 times…. WTF??
You can never understand the complexity of games like WaW and Gears. Nazi=Bad… Kill them.
So, so complex even Einstein would get confused.
December 22nd, 2008
bourne – “COD:WaW has the most useless AI in recent times…” so. friggin. true. this game SUCKS. I’m just pissed that treyarch used the “..using the cod4 engine” as a selling point… the ai and collision detection SUCK!!!
dwh – yes..psychonauts was great on the original xbox. one of the best never heard of games on the market…. very funny too….
December 22nd, 2008
YOU DONT GET IT KEV!!! IT USES THE COD 4 engine… HOW CAN IT NOT BE AWESOME!!!
Im so glad I didnt buy it… I was giving it serious thought cus many people on USA and UK bought it for the ps3…. now only buying it from the garbage… I mean bargain bin…
I wish theyd release a SPecial Edition of Psychonauts… Id love to have a small Raz figurine… sigh…
December 22nd, 2008
Meh, CoD5 is fun. It probably should have been an addon as opposed to a full game but oh well.
Zombie mode is awesome also.
Psychonauts was cool, had awesome voice acting too. It was like playing a cartoon (I believe much of the talent used also do voice overs for cartoons etc.).
December 22nd, 2008
SW you’re right, the Zombie mode is fun, but i got to level 20 which is no easy feat, so im pushed to find a capable team to hold on past level 20. Which means I’m getting fairly tired of Zombie mode now. I won’t be buying any WW2 shooters from now on, unless they get an absoloutly outstanding score from most reviewers…having said that COD:WAW got a lot of 10/10’s…..
December 22nd, 2008
the best world war 2 shooter Ive played has to be call of duty 2… I couldnt stop playing it… cus my PC couldnt handle it… it lagged and had long loading times… but was still awesome… I remember watching that Nicholas Cage movie “Windtalkers” afterwards… and thinking… this isnt world war 2… its not supposed to look like this…
call of duty 2… my hero….