ReSolve, the appointed administrator of Free Radical, has told Edge that there has already been a significant interest shown in buying the troubled developer.

Yesterday evening Free Radical was officially placed into administration, just hours after its staff were refused entry into the company’s offices and told to meet at the nearby Novotel hotel. It was here where an emotional Steve Ellis (co-founder) explained to the group the severity of Free Radical’s circumstances.

Edge has been told from sources close to the matter that “well over 100” people have already left the group, and that a number of companies were in Free Radical’s home city of Nottingham yesterday to pay condolences and network with the staff. Realtime Worlds, Codemasters, Monumental and Eurocom all had a presence in the area, according to accounts from two of our sources.

ReSolve’s Cameron Gunn responded that he is “not aware of any formal resignations over the last 24 hours, but we can’t stop people resigning from Free Radical.”

“Not a single person had been made redundant, though the company reserves the right to do so. The staff have been paid December salaries and told to go home. What we are trying to do right now for the first few days is understand the present financial position of the company. We have a team of people doing that right now, who are on site looking into the records.” 

ReSolve will soon be marketing the business for sale as a going concern, which, if successful, will involve the transfer of any employees who are left in the company. It is understood that two undisclosed projects that Free Radical had been working on are still being looked over, as these were the two projects that generated the most interest from publishers and have the biggest potential. Yesterday’s selection of staff at the Novotel – where members were picked out and asked to continue working at Free Radical's offices for the time being – is said to be related to these two projects.

“We are very confident that we will achieve a sale if we decide to market the business,” says Gunn,” it’s a testament to the employees and the regard of the company that a significant interest has already been shown.”

Gunn wouldn’t specify where the interest is originating from, neither by company or business sector, or indeed how many parties are interested.