Tag Archives: resolve

In continuation of a claim made early December last year, administrator ReSovle Partners has told GI that interest in the purchase of Free Radical is still “very strong.”

“At this stage interest has been very strong,” said ReSovle’s Cameron Gunn.

“We’re advertising the business and assets for sale and there’s been some significant interest expressed from all over the world, so we’re now in the process of exploring that interest.

“The sale process itself will take a few weeks to run through, so we are thinking at this stage probably towards the end of January we should be in a better position to know whether or not we’ve got a decent sale – mid to late January,” he added.

Free Radical Design cut its workforce from 140 to 40 on December 31 in a bid to stay afloat.

More through the GI link.

By Mike Bowden

Happy New Year. We’re glad we shut down over Christmas. You didn’t miss a whole lot.

By far the most important story over the break was news that Free Radical cut its workforce by 140 to just 40.

The developer was confirmed as being in administration just before the Christmas holiday.

Speaking to 1UP, Cameron Gunn of administrators ReSolve Partners said, “We made around 140 employees redundant yesterday, effective 31 December (the date up to which they had been paid). We’re still trading on with the remaining 40 or so employees, have advertised the business for sale and have received some strong interest.”

News broke mid-December that staff had turned up for work only to be locked with a notice on the door telling them to adjourn to a nearby hotel.

Free Radical aside, other noteworthy Christmas news included confirmation that Mistwalker JRPG Cry On has been cancelled.

“AQI decided to cancel the project after analyzing the current market environment and forecasts for the future. We deeply apologize for troubling those who were awaiting its release,” said a company rep.

Cry On was apparently part of “Hironobu Sakaguchi’s triumvirate of Xbox 360 titles,” says this 1UP piece (the other two being Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey), and for those of you who don’t know, the game “was to be an action-RPG featuring a Nobuo Uematsu soundtrack [and] character designs by Kimihiko Fujisaka.”

Full round up below.

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As reported by Edge, Free Radical’s administrator – Resolve – has claimed there’s already been good interest in buying the developer.

“We are very confident that we will achieve a sale if we decide to market the business,” said spokesman for Resolve, Cameron Gunn.

“It’s a testament to the employees and the regard of the company that a significant interest has already been shown.”

That report says that “well over 100” people have already left the firm, and that a number of companies were in Free Radical’s home city of Nottingham yesterday to pay condolences and network with the staff.

Realtime Worlds, Codemasters, Monumental and Eurocom all had a presence in the area, according to sources.

Free Radical was confirmed as having gone into administration last night. Staff arrived at the company’s offices to find them locked yesterday.