TimeSplitters Rewind locks November 2025 — a free, fan-made “best of” that might save chaotic couch

Why this fan revival actually matters

This one made me sit up. TimeSplitters Rewind, a community-built, free “best of” package for the TimeSplitters trilogy, just dropped a new trailer and a proper release date: November 23, 2025. It’s the kind of project we don’t get anymore-over 200 volunteers recreating the series’ chaotic multiplayer and campaign beats without microtransactions, battle passes, or forced hero metas. If you grew up LAN-parties-and-bots, this hits a nerve.

TimeSplitters has always been the goofy, time-hopping cousin to GoldenEye and Perfect Dark-fast, punchy, crammed with modes, and just enough British absurdity to keep it from taking itself too seriously. After years of studio closures and false starts, the official series is in limbo. So yeah, a serious, fan-led revival landing on a symbolic 25th anniversary date feels like the universe rewinding to give this thing another shot.

Key takeaways

• Release date set: November 23, 2025, on PC, and it’s free with no microtransactions.
• Built by 200+ volunteers as a faithful “best of” across TimeSplitters 1, 2, and Future Perfect.
• Classic content returns: fan-favorite maps, modes, 91 characters, 41 weapons, and bots.
• New twists: two new arcade modes (Team Elimination, Last Stand) and online/offline play, including story co-op for TS1.

Breaking down the announcement

The reveal promises a package that reads like a TimeSplitters mixtape. Expect 29 maps spanning the trilogy, the full TimeSplitters 1 story (with co-op), 50 Arcade Leagues, 32 Challenges, 20 arcade modes (plus those two new ones), and up to 10-player online lobbies with bots filling out matches. That last part matters-bots have become an endangered species in modern shooters, yet they were a cornerstone of the original’s pick-up-and-play chaos.

It’s being rebuilt in Unreal, but the team keeps stressing that they’re aiming for the original feel. That’s the right priority. TimeSplitters worked because of its snappy movement, instant readability, and weapon feedback that made a flare pistol or brick somehow as memorable as a minigun. Hit-reg, input latency, and FOV options will make or break this project just as much as polygon count.

Why this hits different in 2025

Look around. The shooter landscape is dominated by live-service progression treadmills, specialist abilities, and bloated seasonal currencies. There’s fun to be had, sure, but the easy, plug-and-play mayhem of TimeSplitters—the “throw it on the TV, add bots, switch to Virus mode, laugh for two hours” energy—has been mostly sidelined. A free, community-driven compilation that centers offline play, split-friendly pacing, and quick-fire arcade challenges scratches an itch that even big-budget shooters aren’t trying to reach.

And yes, there’s nostalgia at play, but TimeSplitters’ best ideas feel oddly modern again: short objective loops, versatile map layouts, and a toybox of weapons that push you to improvise rather than min-max a loadout.

Healthy skepticism: the real questions

I’m rooting for this, but we’ve all seen fan projects fly too close to the sun. A few things I’m watching:

• Legal/IP stability: The team has long positioned Rewind as a non-commercial, community effort. That’s helped similar projects survive, but we’ve also seen abrupt shutdowns when ownership changes hands. With the official studio shuttered in recent years, the IP’s corporate guardianship isn’t exactly straightforward.
• Netcode and match stability: The promise is up to 10 players online with bots. That’s fine—TimeSplitters is at its best in smaller, frenetic lobbies—but it means rollback-quality responsiveness and solid server browsers matter. If it’s peer-to-peer only, host advantage could sour the fun.
• Longevity and support: Free is fantastic, but servers and bandwidth aren’t. Are there dedicated servers? Community hosting? The team says post-launch updates are planned, which is promising; a clear roadmap would help players invest.
• Options that matter: Full key rebinding, high FOV, ultrawide, aim options, gyro/pad parity, and local play niceties are essential for a game selling muscle memory as a feature.
• MapMaker? The originals’ creation tools were a cult favorite. No confirmation here. If it’s missing at launch, expect the community to ask loudly.

What this could change for players

If Rewind nails the feel, it could become the de facto place to experience TimeSplitters without digging out a PS2. It also sets a blueprint for fan-led preservation that isn’t just emulation—it’s reconstruction with modern netcode and quality-of-life upgrades. On the flip side, the bar is high: Black Mesa showed how to modernize a classic with taste, but a dozen other fan shooters stalled because “almost there” doesn’t cut it when the selling point is purity.

Console prospects? Nothing confirmed. PC-first makes sense for a community project, but controller feel and living-room ergonomics are a huge part of the TimeSplitters DNA. Even if consoles never happen, full controller support and painless couch play on PC will be crucial.

What to watch between now and launch

• A public roadmap for modes, online infrastructure, and post-launch updates.
• Hands-on tests of hit detection, movement speed, and weapon feel versus the originals.
• Clear info on community servers, anti-cheat, and mod policy.
• Accessibility options, split-screen details, and performance across a range of PCs.

TL;DR

TimeSplitters Rewind finally has a date—November 23, 2025—and it’s aiming to be a free, faithful “greatest hits” with bots, co-op, and a pile of modes. I’m genuinely excited because this brand of chaotic, couch-friendly FPS has been missing. If the team sticks the landing on feel and online stability—and sidesteps the usual fan-project pitfalls—this could be the comeback the series always deserved.