Gamasutra is reporting that Free Radical Design has been shut down. The developer has reportedly changed the locks on its Nottingham studios and posted security guards in order to keep employees out. The developer's financial problems were apparently well known in the area and senior staff members like David Doak and others have left the company already.

Free Radical was founded by veterans of Rare in 1999 by makers of the Perfect Dark and Goldeneye series. While the company saw success with its TimeSplitters series, this year's Haze (Ubisoft) underperformed commercially and critically. Free Radical had a development contract with LucasArts that fell through, and the developer was unable to get any publishers to sign on for TimeSplitters 4.