Silicon Knights Lays Off 75% of Staff
The Canadian studio Silicon Knights, responsible most recently for
X-men: Destiny, has reportedly laid off nearly 75% of its staff, leaving the reeling studio with just 25 core employees. Back in July of this year, the studio received a grant from the Canadian government to hire as many as 80 new employees, yet instead they are doing the opposite.
According to reports, sources "close to the company" have confirmed the layoffs, including that the entirety of the human resources departed has been axed. Silicon Knights has only released 4 games since 2000, including
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem,
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, and
Too Human. The first two games I just mentioned were both strong titles, but most critics agree that the studio dropped the ball with
Too Human and
X-men: Destiny.
It's unclear whether their latest release is responsible for the cuts, and one can only speculate what could have been had the studio decided to hire more staff for the project. Either way, Silicon Knights is in some serious trouble.