After 12 Years In Development, TimeSplitters Rewind Finally Has A Release Date

Now there’s a headline I thought I’d never write, but yes, TimeSplitters Rewind, the fan-made project finally has a release date – November 23 (November 24 in Australia).

The release date was revealed with the project’s website relaunch, which now shows a countdown timer and a breakdown of what players can expect from the free-to-play experience, which claims to be “the largest free content video game ever.” No information is available on how players will be able to download the game yet, but those details shouldn’t be too far away given the release date is less than a month away. When Rewind launches, players can enjoy the following:

• 28 Maps
• Online and Offline Story Mode
• 50 Arcade Leagues
• 32 Challenges
• 91 Characters
• 41 Weapons
• 20 Arcade Game Modes
• New Game Mode – Team Elimination
• Updated Game Mode – Last Stand
• Online and Offline Arcade w/Bots
• 10 Players Online

A developer in the game’s Discord channel confirmed that a full remake of TimeSplitters 1’s story will be available at launch, with the other campaign remakes continuing to be worked on.

The project officially began in 2013 when Crytek, the IP’s then-rights holder, gave its blessing for the fan-made project to go ahead. Since then, the project has suffered multiple reboots, team and leadership changes, engine changes, and more setbacks that make the term development hell an apt description. Rewind’s website has a breakdown of the project’s journey, and it’s quite the read. Despite the challenges though, the desire to get a modern TimeSplitters experience into the hands of players won out and is why the project continued.

Developed by the former Rare dev-led Free Radical Design, TimeSplitters is a fast-paced FPS series that thrived commercially and critically during the PS2 era (alongside the OG Xbox and Nintendo GameCube). Spawning three entries: TimeSplitters, TimeSplitters 2 and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, the series hasn’t seen a new release since March 2005. TimeSplitters 4 was in the works back in 2007, but was cancelled when the studio couldn’t secure a publishing partner and went into administration, leading Crytek to swoop in. Years later, Crytek sold the IP rights to THQ Nordic (Embracer), who revived Free Radical Design with its original founders in 2021 to develop a new entry, only to shut it down when Embracer went on a cost-cutting spree.

Are you excited to play TimeSplitters Rewind? Let us know in the comments or on social media.