In an unexpected turn of events, British game developer Free Radical has closed its doors for good.

Creators of the much acclaimed Time Splitters series, Free Radical has suddenly ceased operations. Reports claim that employees were locked out of their Nottingham-based office early today and a meeting in the car park concluded in the complete shut-down of the company.

Blame for the closure lies in a mixture of critical and commercial mediocrity for their last big game; the PS3 exclusive Haze; and LucasArts pulling out of a deal to publish the studio's upcoming secret project - Star Wars Battlefront 3.

So what does this mean for gamers? Well, it would seem that any hope of the long-awaited Time Splitters 4 has fallen through the floor. This is particularly sad news for Wii owners, as the game was expected to hit Nintendo's system (even a poll on the company's website showed that Wii was fans' number one console of choice for the series). It remains to be clear where certain licenses lie, but the future is not bright for any fans of Free Radical's projects.

Update: As the day has progressed, more details of Free Radical's position have become clear. The company is now in administration, with staff paid through the holiday season with their Christmas bonuses - but according to Edge, after this the money runs out. Battlefront 3 had been in development for two years when LucasArts pulled out of the deal in October, and Free Radical had been struggling to find a publisher for TimeSplitters 4, which had itself already seen a year's development time.

Founder David Doak apparently parted ways with the company earlier this month, while co-founder Steve Ellis is already pursuing the start-up of his own development studio to be named Pumpkin Beach, with 20 hand-picked ex-Free Radical staff. The rest of the 185-strong team have met with Codemasters and Monumental Games reps to exchange CVs and the like, in the hope that jobs can be found for all of them.