Silicon Knights confirms layoffs of 45 employees [update]

Silicon Knights has confirmed the layoffs that were reported earlier this week, though the company has reduced the lost headcount from a rumored 72 employees to 45. Company CFO Mike Mays told the Financial Post this morning that "just under 40" people are still currently employed by the studio, and that the sudden layoffs were the result of a canned project the studio was working on for X-Men Destiny publisher Activision.

"We just finished a project with [Activision] that got completed," Mays said. Apparently, the developer had another project that was already "in the works for months" when an unnamed publisher pulled out, but Mays said it directly caused the layoffs. "That resulted in us having too many people so we had to do a layoff," he explained. Mays also noted that SK is in the process of negotiating new projects, and that if things work out, he's hoping to rehire as many people as possible.

Update: This post originally stated that Activision was the publisher cited as canceling a project with Silicon Knights, as reported by Financial Post. The source has since altered its text from "We just finished a project with [Activision Blizzard Inc.] that got canceled," to "We just finished a project with [Activision Blizzard Inc.] that got completed." We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.