THQ Nordic released its 2019 Q1 Financial Report this morning, which included great news like sales increases, company growth, and a reveal that a new Saints Row game in the works. Buried in this massive report is a tiny nugget of info about the Timesplitters franchise, which its subsidiary Deep Silver acquired in 2018. The co-creator of the franchise, Steve Ellis, has joined the THQ Nordic team to revitalize the series.
“Last year Deep Silver acquired the much-loved Timesplitters IP. We’re delighted to announce that one of the series’ creators, Steve Ellis, has joined us to help plot the future course for this franchise,” THQ Nordic Founder and CEO Lars Wingefors said in the report.
Timesplitters games have not seen the light of day since the days of the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox. The last game to release was Timesplitters: Future Perfect in 2005. None of these titles are even available in the PlayStation Store as PS2 classics.
There was once a Timesplitters 4 title in development, but that officially was shut down in 2013. When asked if the game had a future for the PS4, Ellis said bluntly, “I don’t think there’s any chance that’s going to happen. You always got to the point where the marketing person in the room would say, ‘I don’t know how to sell this,’ because they want a character that they can put on the front of the box.
“Every marketing person and every publisher we spoke to [said], ‘ You can’t have that as your selling point,’ and maybe the sales figures of previous games backed that up.”
The fan project Timesplitters Rewind, however, is still in development, but only for the PC. The team released a video of gameplay footage in March 2019, but it is unclear if this project will still have the go ahead now that Ellis is on board.
Are you on board with a new Timesplitters title after all this, well, time?
