Report: Silicon Knights cuts staff by nearly 75 percent, from 97 to just 25 [update]

by Ben Gilbert on Oct 31st 2011 5:47PM

X-Men Destiny and Too Human developer Silicon Knights may be in dire straits, with a report today stating the company is down from 97 employees to just 25. 1UP cites "two credible independent sources" as telling the news site of the massive layoffs over this past weekend.

The report seemingly flies in the face of a $3 million Canadian government grant given to Silicon Knights this past July, intended at the time to "create 80 new jobs and protect 97 existing positions." It was also supposed to make SK into a self-published dev house -- something that company head Denis Dyack has continually pushed for. As of this publishing, representatives from Silicon Knights had yet to respond to request for comment.

Update: The company has since confirmed layoffs, although the number is lower than originally reported in this piece.

Source: 1UP

Tags: denis-dyack, layoffs, silicon-knights, too-human, X-Men-Destiny

Reader Comments (75)

Ding dong the witch is...almost dead?

@yomachaser Oh come now people, stop the downvoting already. At some point even though a studio put out a few very good games (legacy of kain and eternal darkness) they can't endlessly just be unlucky.

It has got to be crystal clear by now that whoever currently works there just doesn't have "it" anymore and they would probably be more fulfilled doing something else.

Blimey

@yomachaser

You are 100% correct

Only job they need to cut is the one at the very top making these terrible calls.

@stiqlol I hope he does so I can knock some sense into him and get Eternal Darkness II made already!

@stiqlol
I hear that if you say his name three times in a mirror on Halloween night he comes and tricks your government into giving him millions of dollars.

@stiqlol

He's (Unverified), there's simply no way for Dennis to find him.

We're never getting an Eternal Darkness 2 at this rate. At least not from them.

@Behonkiss

At this point I'd settle for an HD remake of the original

@Behonkiss

After Too Human and Xmen, I don't know if I want them doing an Eternal Darkness 2, even if it's one of my favorite games ever.

@Basevi

thank you for saying this, because that's totally what i was thinking.

Hey, heads up Silicon Knights! This is what happens when you make not just one, but TWO craptastic games that spits in the face of an awesome currently existing mythology!

@DevilSei No no, this is what happens when you make two craptastic games, and then say that everyone who said the games were craptastic were stupid and wrong.

It's like Canada's Solyndra.....except it is a company that makes shit games...

Big surprise there

I feel really bad for the people fired...

....but this is what happens when your company fails to put out one decent game for 7 years. X-Men Destiny and Too Human were both total overhyped flops.

@R Planteer
Agreed. It's such a shame too because Too Human had so much potential.

@MystcLazrDragon

I have a couple of friends who swear by Too Human and I finally gave it a shot. Spent several hours with it and I can say it is one of the most boring, repetitive, anachronistically designed games I've played this gen. Grinding and loot do not a good game make. But of course Dyack says I just don't 'get it'. Well, I don't want to.

Playing Dark Souls right now - THAT is an excellent RPG

@OnToGloryReturns
That's the way I felt. Too Human's concept could have made for a great game but, it was very badly implemented.

@OnToGloryReturns I loved Too Human so much. It's truly one of my favorite games this generation. But I'd be lying if I called it an excellent RPG, or even an excellent game. Demon's/Dark Souls it is not, but it's got a permanent spot on my game shelf all the same.

@OnToGloryReturns - I wanted to love Too Human, as I love Norse mythology. I also really enjoyed the little Video series they released based on the game. When I finally got to play it, I found it repetitive and boring as well. I was so disappointed. They wasted such a great storyline on a very meh game.
Baldur deserved better!!

So sad they were on a downward spiral since the NGC days. Twin Snakes and Eternal Darkness were triumphant.

hnnn hnnnnnnnn

Do another Eternal Darkness (and make if good) then close.

Sadly, I don't have confidence in their ability to deliver on the "make it good" part.

I feel so bad for all the employees cut ... but they really haven't released a good game since Eternal Darkness (which I didn't even like)

Whats with Magneto creeping up at the top of that pic there?

@GeraltRivia

Yeah, I don't understand these photoshops today. Is there a theme or are they just being confusing spooky with wacky?

@GeraltRivia

There's images that don't belong creeping into every article after Japanese sales.

@GeraltRivia

Honestly, with the graphics Destiny had... I completely thought that Magneto thing was part of the screen shot! So I never noticed it...

@mezzaninex

...

@GeraltRivia

needs more Dead Space girl

Seriously Joystiq - you need to do another all day DSG marathon-pic again - easily the best day in the history of Joystiq

Wonder how much they used up trying to sue epic over the non-existant anti-aliasing of the Unreal 3 engine.

Looks like the Canadian government should have checked whether the studio they were investing in could actually make GOOD games and not just games.

I hope for their sake there is a good clause in that contract that allows them to recover some of that money back. Denis Dyack might be working at the Canadian DMV soon.

Only if its exclusive to Wii U.

@Co

They'll probably want to put it on a console w/out dated graphics, gimmick motion controls and a broken online

@Co

you gotta be one of the worst Nintendo fanboys out there. how's being exclusive to that crap factory known as the Wii working out for you? there's a reason why Nintendo is trying to garner more support from "core" developers, y'know?

@Liquidfingers

It'll be the same story as the N64, GC and Wii: "Oh, look how much we care about our 3rd party developers! We'll be sure to be working with them closely to put out the best possible lineup of 3rd party games!"

18 months later: Shelves flooded with shovelware crap, all substantial 3rd party games seeing success on competitor's consoles with mediocre ports to Nintendo's console getting no attention or sales.

I've seen this movie and I know how it ends

Silicon Knights:
-Makes the Original Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen= Awesome game.
-Makes Eternal Darkness for the NGC= Awesome game.
-Makes Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes= Awesome game.

-Makes Too Human= Fail
-Makes X-Men Destiny= Fail.

What happened?????

@CountNoobula
They stopped developing for Nintendo?

They're a dark power them guys.

@CountNoobula

the blood sacrifices must have stopped. at least that's my guess.

@Undulation Was Legacy of Kain a Nintendo exclusive?

Or even just on a Nintendo console?

@Paviel Believe it or not, Silicon Knights was not exclusive to Nintendo when the original Playstation was out. The Legacy of Kain series started there and continued on other platforms outside of the PS2. Silicon Knights was no longer the developer when the sequel to Blood Omen, Soul Reaver, came out.

@CountNoobula

Sorry buddy, Twin Snakes was broken and over the top even by Kojima standards. It sucked AND blew.

@(Unverified) I prefer it to playing the original version, personally. It's over-the-topness helped turn the trademark MGS tripe into all around good fun.

What is the deal with silicon and rare? they used to be on top of the world years ago, but they're.... they're....

@Dance Mofo
There's something called the ex-Nintendo curse. When you work with Nintendo your company does amazing then when you quit your company starts to do poorly.

@The Aquacharger I'm just going to assume you're being sarcastic. The Playstation was built on companies who ditched Nintendo.

@skullivan
No I'm not, and no it wasn't.
Every company that worked with Nintendo that has ditched from them has either went defunct or released nothing but bad games.

@Dance Mofo

In the case of SK, the talent left the building while the name remained. Dyack has always been the front man for the talent of others, and once the reputation he has for being an arrogant hack who promotes his sycophants into management became well-known in the industry, he couldn't recruit that talent anymore. Ex-employee testimonials all go on and on about neverending crunch, thankless work, and incompetent leadership that constantly destroys any progress a game makes. Threatening anyone who speaks out against him with legal action hasn't won him many friends either.

As for Rare, I'm under the impression that once the Stamper brothers burned out the studio effectively went into a quality control tailspin. They bowed out a few years too late to go out on top, which is a shame.

Is Dyack gone?

No?

Then they still have problems.

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X-Men Destiny

Report: Silicon Knights cuts staff by nearly 75 percent, from 97 to just 25 [update]

Reader Comments (75)

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 5:50PM yomachaser said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 8:26PM yomachaser said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 9:58PM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 5:55PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:18PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:38PM The Aquacharger said

Posted: Nov 1st 2011 3:21AM VanillaNowah said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 5:55PM Behonkiss said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 7:01PM Random Hero said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 7:11PM Basevi said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 9:58PM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 5:55PM DevilSei said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:11PM Pugnaciousturtle said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 5:56PM freelancer91 said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 5:58PM esbeekay said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 5:59PM R Planteer said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:26PM MystcLazrDragon said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 9:57PM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 10:33PM MystcLazrDragon said

Posted: Nov 1st 2011 3:25AM Oddgirl said

Posted: Nov 1st 2011 2:52PM Fearmonkey said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:00PM Undulation said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:00PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 1st 2011 8:05AM HoopyHobo said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:04PM wenchwogg said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:06PM GeraltRivia said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:10PM mezzaninex said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:15PM MrAlex said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:19PM DevilSei said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 8:27PM tryanothernametryanothername said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 10:00PM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:12PM RequiemDogma said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:14PM Lerkero said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 9:20PM Co said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 10:02PM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 10:15PM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 10:31PM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:19PM CountNoobula said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:45PM Undulation said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 8:46PM Nook said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 9:25PM Paviel said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 9:50PM CountNoobula said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 11:28PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 1st 2011 3:29AM Oddgirl said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:19PM Dance Mofo said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:41PM The Aquacharger said

Posted: Nov 1st 2011 1:04AM skullivan said

Posted: Nov 1st 2011 3:13AM The Aquacharger said

Posted: Nov 1st 2011 11:07AM freaparn said

Posted: Oct 31st 2011 6:32PM DaRabidDuckie said

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