It has been seven years since the last TimeSplitters game, and in that time, developer Free Radical Entertainment was rescued from the brink of destruction by Crytek, and was reborn as Crytek UK. Several reports of a TimeSplitters 4 have surfaced since then, with the latest rumor from OXM sources having the game up and running, but Crytek UK has humorously responded with what could be viewed as a wink and a nudge.

The rather confusing email we received deals with black market monkeys and rising budget costs:

For Timesplitters 4, with ever spiralling development costs, massive teams and endless crunch we decided on a more radical development strategy. In short, the experiment was to implement the infinite monkey theorem. With cloning being a far too expensive option, we spent all of the development budget on buying monkeys on the black market. Those seven monkeys are now sat in a room with typewriters and lots of mirrors, and we fully expect Timesplitters 4 to be finished soon. Rumours are that they haven’t written any code but just tease the press from time to time. Those damn monkeys. PS: anyone got any bananas?

It's not really a confirmation or denial of the game's development, although the developer also told CVG that the game is "not in development" when pressed for a more definitive answer.

Nice to see a sense of humor, though.