silicon-knights
Latest
Joystiq Streams: Can Eternal Darkness still scare? [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
The things that terrify us never fade - the dark, basements, isolation, bugs, lake monsters, Paula Deen -but time isn't kind to our scary stories. Some horror stands up, though. The Exorcist is every bit as freaky as it was 40 years ago, but is Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem still as scary in 2014 as it was in 2002? Will people who've never played that Gamecube classic still freak the geek out when they play it for the first time? Intrepid explorers that we are here at Joystiq, we're going to find out today on Joystiq Streams. Our very own Xav de Matos will play Eternal Darkness for the very first time on Joystiq Streams today at 4PM EST at Joystiq.com/Twitch. Come find out how one of gaming's horror essentials holds up. Joystiq Streams is broadcasting every day at 4PM EST this week at Joystiq.com/Twitch! Join us. [Images: Nintendo]
Silicon Knights loses appeal for ruling on lawsuit with Epic Games
A United States Court of Appeals judge has upheld a lower court's decision concerning the legal battle between Silicon Knights and Epic Games. The post-trial motions for the previous ruling ordered Silicon Knights to destroy all unsold copies of their games that used Unreal Engine 3, which included Too Human and X-Men: Destiny. Epic was also awarded more than $9 million in the ruling - $4.45 million for damages, with the rest covering the studio's legal fees and prejudgment interest. The dispute began back in 2007, when Silicon Knights claimed Epic delivered Unreal Engine 3 six months late while withholding a superior version just to be used for Epic's internal projects. Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein described the allegations as "unfounded and without merit," noting Epic's intention to defend themselves. Silicon Knights' ability to pay the sentence is currently uncertain, as the studio followed the initial ruling by laying off "a small number of people." A report from last May also stated that the Silicon Knights offices were empty, with former studio head Denis Dyack gone and involved with a sequel to Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness called Shadow of the Eternals. That project is an effort from Precursor Games and is uninvolved with Silicon Knights, but Precursor noted its team was "taking a break" in September and that the project is on hold after failing to meet funding goals.
Kojima seeking studio to remake Metal Gear Solid... again [Update]
Update: Kojima has tweeted that "a rumor about remaking MGS1+2" is "not true," and that his statement "has been modified in the thread or something." Kojima further elaborated that he'd want to remake MGS1 and 2 in Fox Engine if possible, but that Kojima Productions is too busy with Metal Gear Solid 5 and "other prioritized titles." "I wouldn't mind if talented creator from outside studio making this happen," Kojima said, though that is different from saying that he is actively seeking a studio to fill that role. Original: Metal Gear series director Hideo Kojima is currently seeking a studio to remake Metal Gear Solid using the Fox Engine, Gamereactor UK reports. Kojima noted his interest during a recent roundtable interview, after a fan requested remakes for the first two Metal Gear Solid games. The Twin Snakes, a 2004 remake of the original Metal Gear Solid, was developed by Silicon Knights during the studio's brief stint as a second-party Nintendo developer, and remains a GameCube exclusive. Series compilations like Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection and the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection feature the original PSone version of Metal Gear Solid. While Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 were remade for 2011's release of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, the original game in the series continues to elude an HD makeover. Kojima noted that some of Metal Gear Solid's mechanics would require updating for a potential remake, but gave no further details. Kojima previously expressed doubts that Metal Gear Solid could be updated for modern audiences, explaining that "It was a game made for a certain era -- not just the story, but the controls and everything about it reflect that era in which the game was made." Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD developer Just Add Water expressed interest in producing a Metal Gear Solid remake in a Twitter reply to Kojima earlier today.
Denis Dyack speaks up on X-Men: Destiny mismanagement allegations
It may not be the timeliest response, but Denis Dyack is speaking out against allegations that the very poorly received X-Men: Destiny was the result of catastrophic mismanagement on the part of developer Silicon Knights. Dyack recently left his role as the head of Silicon Knights to join Precursor games, developer of the coming Eternal Darkness spiritual successor, Shadow of the Eternals. As Precursor is seeking crowdfunding for the project, and Dyack is serving as its chief creative officer, it seems the company believes he has some 'splaining to do. The allegations sprung from a Kotaku article penned by freelance writer Andrew McMillen last October. In a 30-minute YouTube response, Dyack categorically denies statements made in the article, saying that "there isn't any hard evidence whatsoever besides non-credible anonymous sources." Dyack added that Silicon Knights refused to submit any comments for the article in question, as it would have appeared to lend credence to what he sees as untrue allegations. Dyack then reads a letter he alleges was written by McMillen to an anonymous source. The letter states that McMillen's article was initially refused by Wired games editor Chris Kohler, who cited a lack of facts and documentation, apart from the comments from anonymous ex-employees. Dyack goes on to say that "not only did Silicon Knights not divert funds from X-Men: Destiny to our other projects, which I can't talk about, we actually put more money into X-Men: Destiny than what we were paid." Dyack says he and Silicon Knights worked with Activision and Marvel to make Destiny as good as it could be and, while he's sorry for how it turned out, he says, "We put nothing but our best efforts" into the game. Dyack also admitted to saying some things he "shouldn't have said in the press" regarding X-Men Destiny, adding, "I've learned my lesson." The same mistakes won't be made again, he says. The video goes on to address other concerns, such as Silicon Knights' relationship with Nintendo, and Dyack has also posted a litany of related references on Precursor's forums.
Nine minutes of Shadow of the Eternals gameplay revealed
Precursor Games has released nine minutes of gameplay footage from its CryEngine 3-powered horror-adventure game Shadow of the Eternals, giving a very thorough look at an early work-in-progress scene. Pitched as a spiritual successor to Silicon Knights' GameCube cult hit Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Precursor's Shadow of the Eternals seeks backer support in an ongoing crowd-funding campaign. Backers have pledged over $134,000 toward Precursor's goal of $1.5 million, with 27 days left in the studio's funding campaign. Developer Precursor Games purchased game assets and hardware from the now semi-defunct Silicon Knights, and several former SK staffers, including Eternal Darkness director Denis Dyack, have joined Precursor's team for the project.
Report: Silicon Knights closes office, unloads assets
Something shady is going on in the province of Ontario with Silicon Knights and the full story is still shaking out. Yesterday it was reported that Precursor Games, which is working on the curiously funded Shadow of the Eternals – a "spiritual successor" to Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem – bought and implemented Silicon Knights' assets into their new project. Polygon also reported late yesterday that Silicon Knights' offices are now empty (stopping just short of closing), and that despite there being "no connection to Silicon Knights" according to Precursor Games' CEO Paul Caporicci, former SK head Dennis Dyack confirmed that he had left SK and was now chief creative officer at Precursor. Polygon has way, way more on this. Silicon Knights lost a multi-million, multi-year lawsuit against Epic Games last year and there's still questions about the money the company may or may not have gotten from the Ontario government. More on this is sure to be revealed in its time.
Shadow of the Eternals uses assets purchased from Silicon Knights
A bit of that old Silicon Knights black magic lives on in Shadow of the Eternals, the "spiritual successor" to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem from Precursor Games. Art assets originally created by Silicon Knights employees have been bought, paid for and implemented into this new project. "We did purchase some art assets from Silicon Knights," Precursor Games CEO Paul Caporicci told Wired. "We were very happy to be able to put those assets created by the talented past employees to use." It was reported last October that as much as 40 percent of Silicon Knights had been working on a sequel to Eternal Darkness, which may explain the existence of said art assets. Shadow of the Eternals is being built in CryEngine 3, Caporicci added – an important distinction to make considering the major issues Silicon Knights suffered after using Unreal Engine 3 and subsequently employing its own game engine. Though Nintendo owns the rights to Eternal Darkness and has patented the game's sanity mechanics, Caporicci said similar gameplay ideas can be safely implemented without breaking the law.
Too Human pulled from Xbox Live Marketplace
Even an electronic god is no match for Xbox Live administrators, apparently. Too Human and all related content has been removed from Xbox Live Marketplace. Though the game's Xbox.com listing is still active, containing screenshots, an overview and a trailer, all downloadable content has been removed. That includes both the full Games on Demand download of the game as well as items like themes and gamer pictures.The action is likely the result of the recent court ruling against developer Silicon Knights, demanding that all copies of its Unreal Engine 3 games be recalled and destroyed. As of this writing, however, another Silicon Knights UE3 game, X-Men: Destiny, remains available via Games on Demand. We've contacted Microsoft for official comment on the matter.
Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance resurrected on Steam
Thanks to the power of the Elder God, the Legacy of Kain series is now on Steam. For $9.99 a pop, you can download Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance.The Legacy of Kain games focus on vampire-turned-wraith Raziel and vampire demigod Kain. It's the series where Amy Hennig got her first crack as games writer and director. Hennig has since won two awards from the Writers Guild of America for her work on the Uncharted series.
X-Men: Destiny destined for unsure lifespan on Games on Demand
X-Men: Destiny is available from today on Xbox Live Marketplace as part of the Games on Demand program, priced at $39.99. That's despite Silicon Knights being ordered by the US court to recall and destroy all unsold copies of its products using Unreal Engine 3, of which X-Men: Destiny is one. The company was also ordered to cease producing and distributing games using Epic's technology.So what exactly's going on here? Well, the ruling in the Silicon Knights vs. Epic Games case dictates Silicon Knights notifies the US court by December 21 of its compliance with the injunctions ordered. This is presumably to give Silicon Knights adequate time to carry out the required actions; recalling and destroying every unsold copy of X-Men: Destiny and Too Human.So the game newly appearing on XBLM might not contravene the injunctions, at least for now. It should also be noted that Too Human is also currently available on XBLM, while GameStop, Target, and Best Buy all have new copies of X-Men: Destiny listed as available.
Silicon Knights ordered to destroy all unsold games using Unreal Engine 3, award to Epic Games doubled
Silicon Knights is being ordered by the US court to recall and destroy all unsold copies of games using Unreal Engine 3, including Too Human and X-Men: Destiny. The new ruling on post-trial motions for the case between Silicon Knights and Epic Games also saw Epic's jury award upped from $4.5 million to over $9 million.The ruling, dated November 7, also orders Silicon Knights to cease using Epic Games's "Licensed Technology" and remove it from the company's game engine. Furthermore, Silicon Knights has until December 10 to destroy any code built using Epic's technology; the court order includes Too Human, X-Men: Destiny, Siren in the Maelstrom, The Sandman, and The Box/Ritualyst. Silicon Knights must notify the court by December 21 and again on February 21, 2013, concerning all injunctions ordered, and they are to be carried out at the company's expense."Epic Games appreciates the court's careful consideration of the motion and is gratified by the order," Epic Games told us when reached for comment.The Box/Ritualyst represents an open-world horror game initially pitched to Sega but cancelled by the publisher in 2008. As for Siren in the Maelstrom, it was rumored to be upcoming after being outed by a Canadian cultural agency's list of newly funded projects. It's unknown if The Sandman is a project connected to the DC Comics series of the same name.The case began with Silicon Knights suing Epic Games in 2007 for allegedly breaching the companies' agreement over Unreal Engine 3 licensing. Epic in turn filed a counterclaim, alleging Silicon Knights developed its own engine and games other than Too Human illegally by using Unreal Engine 3. In May this year, the court ruled in favor of Epic Games, ordering Silicon Knights to pay Epic $4.45 million in damages.This week's ruling adds a further $4.7 million to be awarded to Epic, with $2.30 million in prejudgment interest, $2.09 million in attorney's fees, and $278,000 in costs.
Report: Eternal Darkness 2 demo part of X-Men: Destiny's woes
According to a report by Andrew McMillen, Silicon Knights was working on an Eternal Darkness 2 pitch demo that distracted the team from X-Men: Destiny during its development.McMillen writes on Kotaku that there were a litany of problems around the terrible X-Men: Destiny, including a lack of direction, technical and publisher issues with Activision, and problematic management from studio founder Denis Dyack."SK didn't take the development of XMD seriously the entire time I was there," says an anonymous former Silicon Knights employee. "It seemed more like a job to get us by, until ED2 could be developed and sold to a publisher - which never happened." Another unnamed source says "SK had about 60% of the development team working on XMD and the other 40% working on ED2," which caused staffing problems and allegedly lowered the quality of the final X-Men release.The piece also alleges that Silicon Knights earned the Activision contract and other contracts by "talking about Eternal Darkness endlessly," so if this is all true the very franchise that got Silicon Knights the X-Men project was the one that helped sink it. Given how certain Dyack has been in the past about an Eternal Darkness sequel, this might be one of several answers as to why X-Men: Destiny didn't get the focus it needed.
Silicon Knights cutting back after losing countersuit to Epic Games
Silicon Knights has laid off a "a small number of people" following its $4.5 million loss to Epic Games' countersuit claims.Silicon Knights first sued Epic Games in 2007, claiming unsatisfactory support of Epic's Unreal Engine 3, which led to what Silicon Knights said forced it to build its own engine for Too Human. The jury found in favor of Epic Games on all counts, including its counterclaims, and awarded the engine developer $4.5 million in damages; Silicon Knights has since said it will appeal the ruling.Silicon Knights head Denis Dyack told Games Industry the studio is still operational and is even planning for the future: "Silicon Knights has unfortunately had to lay off a small number of people. We are scaling back to a core group and focusing all our efforts on future opportunities."
Silicon Knights plans to appeal in Epic case
X-Men Destiny and Too Human developer Silicon Knights plans to appeal a recent court loss to Epic Games, studio head Denis Dyack told Joystiq. After losing a five-year-long lawsuit this week to Epic Games, Silicon Knights was ordered to fork over $4.45 million in damages to Epic. Dyack said he was "disappointed by the outcome," and that his company would appeal the ruling.Silicon Knights sued Epic Games in 2007 due to a dispute over Silicon Knights' licensing of Epic's Unreal Engine 3. SK claimed that Epic intentionally withheld pieces of the engine – an engine that was originally licensed to help build Too Human – which resulted in repeated delays of that project. A jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina disagreed with Silicon Knights' assertion, and found that the Canadian studio instead caused damage to Epic's license agreement and trade secrets.
Epic: Silicon Knights lawsuit over, 'jury finds for Epic on all counts' [Update: Epic awarded $4.45 million]
According to Epic Game vice president and co-founder Mark Rein, the years long lawsuit between Silicon Knights and Epic Games came to an end today. Rein took to Twitter to broadcast the news. "Case over. Jury finds for Epic on all counts," he said. Silicon Knights hasn't issued a formal response as of yet, though we've reached out for confirmation.The suit arose over allegations from Silicon Knights that Epic Games was withholding pieces of its Unreal Engine 3 – pieces that were allegedly instrumental in the creation of Too Human. Due to the alleged delays, Silicon Knights says it was forced to implement its own game engine (known only as "Silicon Knights engine") to complete the project.Since Too Human, Silicon Knights went on to create the critically-panned X-Men: Destiny and suffered major layoffs. Epic, however, has seen its Unreal Engine 3 thrive across the current generation of consoles, not to mention the success it's seen with the Gears of War franchise.Update: Epic issued a statement this afternoon stating that "The jury rejected Silicon Knights' claim that Epic breached its Unreal Engine 3 license agreement with Silicon Knights. The jury also found in Epic's favor on all of its counterclaims, namely that Silicon Knights breached the license agreement, misappropriated Epic's trade secrets, and infringed Epic's copyrights in the Unreal Engine 3 code. The jury awarded Epic damages totaling $4.45 million." The full statement is below the break; we've yet to hear anything from Silicon Knights.[Image credit: 'bloomsberries']
Silicon Knights entitled to $1 per claim if it wins court case against Epic Games
Silicon Knights will be entitled to $1 in damages, per claim, if it wins a court case against Epic Games over inadequacies in the support of its Unreal Engine. Silicon Knights first sued Epic in 2007, alleging Epic didn't fulfill the promised delivery time or expectations of Unreal Engine 3, forcing Silicon Knights to build its own engine for the production of Too Human.Silicon Knights didn't provide a breakdown of the damages it sought, and the judge assigned his own value of $1 per claim, Polygon reports. If Silicon Knights wins the case, it will be able to appeal how the value was chosen and perhaps raise it to a figure that can't be found on neighborhood lemonade-stand signs.The case is in court this month and is expected to run for another week.
Silicon Knights: we never received any of Canada's money
Last year, Silicon Knights was awarded a grant by the Canadian government, in part to self-publish games, and to hire 80 employees. But it turns out the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade never handed over the funds -- a promised sum of $3 million Canadian."There hasn't been any funding. There were announcements and no money received," Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack told GI.biz. "That's one of the strangest things. So, at one point, there was a loan that we got. That's it." Dyack said he's following up on the money, but to no avail so far.It could be an alarming issue for Silicon Knights, considering the state of affairs at the Ontario-based studio. Late last year the developer had to let 45 go, and it remains embroiled in a long-running legal dispute with Epic over the use of Unreal Engine 3 during the development of Too Human.
Silicon Knights/Epic lawsuit turns in Epic's favor, reveals past SK projects including King's Quest
Silicon Knights' 2007 lawsuit against Epic Games, over 'inadequacies' in performance and support of Unreal Engine 3, continues. Last week, a judge delivered a damaging blow to SK's case when he granted a motion to exclude testimony from financial analyst Terry Lloyd, who was retained by SK to offer an expert opinion about the damages sought. Judge James Dever III concluded that Lloyd delivered "his own subjective conclusions about an industry in which he had no prior knowledge or experience." His choices of competitors to compare sales against was called into question, as games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Gears of War didn't meet his criteria of similar marketing budgets or genre. Court documents also reveal what Silicon Knights was up to elsewhere at the time of filing. The company was pursuing "development opportunities" with Vivendi, THQ, Capcom, and Namco. It had plans for Sandman and King's Quest games, and had gone so far as to make a prototype for King's Quest. Ironically, this would have been taking place right around the time a letter-writing campaign revived the fan-made The Silver Lining project ... which went on to be shut down, and then re-revived. And after all that, the King's Quest franchise is now in the hands of Telltale Games.
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.
Report: Silicon Knights cuts staff by nearly 75 percent, from 97 to just 25 [update]
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.
