A few months ago we got the unfortunate news that Embracer studio Free Radical had been closed down, after spending a number of years working on a new TimeSplitters game. Such a studio closure is always disheartening, but, after seeing a good chunk of gameplay on this 'TimeSplitters: Next' project we're not quite so disappointed to be missing out on this game, at least.

We're all for experimenting with a series to bring it back for modern audiences, but the above concept leak looks so much like Epic's Fortnite that it's almost hard to see any TimeSplitters in it at all. At least not the TimeSplitters we remember playing back in the day on OG Xbox (or via backwards compatibility these days)!

Of course, this is merely a concept we're seeing here and things could have changed drastically before any such TimeSplitters project actually shipped. Still, it's clear the team was experimenting with a completely different direction for the old school FPS series, a direction that we're not sure would have resonated given its blatant similarities to Fortnite. Why not just play Fortnite instead?

This is where something like the Xbox backwards compatibility program really comes in clutch. A new entry in this franchise is something we've been keen on for a while, but back compat at least lets us go back and enjoy the originals on modern hardware! To be honest, we're probably going to do just that after seeing this leaked footage.

Studio closures are never a good thing, especially for the folks working there and putting in the hours to create games for us to enjoy, but some projects just seem doomed from the outset. We'd have loved a proper TimeSplitters reboot that took plenty of cues from the originals, but alas, it looks like we won't see something like that anytime soon.

What do you make of this 'TimeSplitters: Next' footage? Go ahead and talk about it down below.