The developer Free Radical, best known for the TimeSplitters franchise, has been on shaky ground for quite some time. After releasing Haze, which is widely considered as one of the most disappointing games of 2008, the studio was forced to layoff 140 employees.

Ever since that point, the remaining staff made it very apparent that they were hoping to be acquired by a larger company. So who do you think came to the rescue?

Confirming an initial report from 1UP, developer Crytek revealed today that it has acquired the remnants of troubled developer Free Radical Design, which had to fire some 140 people following poor sales for its 2008 shooter, Haze. Crytek, known for its work on Crysis and the original Far Cry, was the highest bidder after the firm was put into administration, and will keep on the 43-member team that remained following the layoffs.

The Nottingham, UK-based Free Radical will now be known as Crytek UK, and will be the first UK studio for the Frankfurt, Germany-based Crytek, which also has studios in Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ukraine. "We're very excited about this step to expand Crytek into the UK with such an experienced and highly talented team," said Crytek managing director Avni Yerli in a statement to Eurogamer. "Free Radical Design is a great fit to Crytek and its culture, given that Free Radical has a proven track record on delivering high quality games." -- What They Play

This is far from what I expected, but a very welcome surprise nonetheless. It is always nice when you expect to see a company go belly up, only to see them claw their way back from the brink. Hopefully, now that they are under the control of Crytek, they will be able to get back to the business of making good games.

I just wish that they had been given another shot at finishing the next Star Wars Battlefront game. The tech demo looked awesome, so it was disappointing to see it just disappear into the ether. What do you guys think they are going to be working on next?