For fans of TimeSplitters, seeing cancelled footage is never going to be an easy pill to swallow. However, the fandom is even more unhappy having seen what the treasured franchise was destined to become if studio layoffs hadn't happened.
We should preface this by saying there's been no official confirmation that the TimeSplitters reboot has been culled. However, seeing as all of the creatives working on it have since been laid off, it seems highly likely this is going to be another revival lost to an unforgiving industry.
We don't want to rub salt into an already sore wound, but we'd be remiss if we didn't share the TimeSplitters: Future Perfect trailer.
Maybe it's for the best, though, as the leaked footage of TimeSplitters Next has caused quite a bit of discourse within the fandom who remember the Xbox original. "Wtf, this is not TimeSplitters 2, this looks like Fortnite – even HUD looks like it," posted one vexed gamer, and they're not alone in feeling this way.
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Fortnite is held in high regard by some of the team here at GAMINGbible, so we're not about to disrespect it. As such, we can only assume that the reason fans don't like the association between TimeSplitters and Fortnite is because the essence of what made TimeSplitters a beloved franchise is lost by mimicking another series.
"TimeSplitters 2 launched over 20 years ago. This is labelled TimeSplitters Next and appears to be a battle royale spin-off." The same poster added, "I was patiently waiting for a new TimeSplitters but I'm glad they canned this Fortnite rip-off."
Those who've been able to look at this leaked footage with a more open mind, however, have pointed out that it was likely a placeholder during early development rather than the final form of the cancelled title. "Ubisoft uses warcraft HUDs when prototyping. Now... if they actually wanted to go for that Fortnite style for the final [TimeSplitters] product, that's another story."
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Sadly, we're unlikely to never find out if this was just a the start of something promising. But maybe that's for the best...? If leaked footage can cause such upset, can you imagine the arguments born from official gameplay; it doesn't bear thinking about.
Featured Image Credit: Eidos InteractiveTopics: Fortnite, Battle Royale, PC, Xbox, Nintendo
