The Outsider ‘not cancelled’

Cambridge studio Frontier Developments has not cancelled production on The Outsider, its founder David Braben has told Develop.

However, 17 workers at the group have been made redundant as Frontier rethinks its approach developing the game.

“There is still publisher interest in the project, and we haven’t cancelled it,” Braben told Develop.

“The priority has been reduced, but we’re still working on it,” he said.

“A publisher has not cancelled the project”, he later said when asked for clarification.

The Outsider has been in production for six years.

Earlier Braben told games site Rock Paper Shotgun that the studio has "had to change priorities because of requirements on other unannounced projects".

He added: "Some people have been moved, and we are very sad to have made some people redundant.”

Making staff redundant is “a hateful thing to do” Braben told Develop.

“It’s gutting, but one of those things you are forced to do sometimes.”

Following redundancies, Frontier has over 210 staff at its studio, Braben said.

Announced in 2005, The Outsider was pitched as an action game with a political narrative. Speculation that the game has been cancelled has circulated for a number of years, not least because of the very few times the game had been demonstrated to the press.

The project was initially self-funded by Frontier Developments, and soon after signed to Codemasters. The Rock Paper Shotgun report said Codemasters dropped the deal, though it is suggested by Braben’s claim that another, unknown company has signed the project.