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Confirmed: Silicon Knights laid off half their workforce, working on requested sequel

If they are being literal about the most-requested sequel, then it's either Legacy of Kain or Eternal Darkness, their only two games to earn a recognisable fanbase.

If it's Kain, then it would fit in with the "return to our roots" statement, as the game was their first foray into console development. The series is currently inactive, with Square Enix showing no overt interest and Crystal Dynamics fully converted into the House of Tomb Raider. It is known that Dyack had an outline of sorts for his own sequel to Blood Omen, until Amy Hennig took the franchise in her wonderful post-Apocalyptic time-travel direction. If an agreement had been reached with Square Enix then this unlikely scenario could be possible. I'd have no objection but struggle to see it somehow.

Eternal Darkness seems somewhat more probable, but it would require SK be in negotiations with Nintendo, which seems somewhat unlikely too.

So I'm stumped. Either one is an exciting possibility though.
 
It could literally only be Eternal Darkness.

Konami would not let them touch Metal Gear, no one wants Too Human 2, and Eidos has no plans to ressurect Legacy of Kain.

Nintendo totally owns Eternal Darkness, as they re-filed for the trademark last year.
 
Eternal Darkness is the only game I've ever played where I spent most of my time controlling portly middle aged dudes and for that SK deserves props. That game had great character concepts. Eye eating rats and all.
 
goomba said:
Would be classic if both factor 5 and silicon knights both came crawling back to nintendo after their betrayaltons.
Click to expand...
SK didn't betray. They were loyal.

They signed on to do Eternal Darkness and Too Human for the GameCube, but after Too Human was done, Miyamoto wanted a Metal Gear, and Kojima said he was too busy to make one on a non-Sony system, and Miyamoto said "I know some guys with nothing better to do." So SK put Too Human aside and did as Miyamoto wanted.

After Twin Snakes, SK wanted to get back to Too Human, maybe on Revolution (Wii), but Iwata said he wanted them to make creative and unique mini-games instead of story-based action games.

SK asked Nintendo about the secret feature of the Revolution (later learned to be waggle), but Iwata said "That's a secret. I can't tell you, even though I already told Ubisoft. Just work around it somehow."

SK said "I don't think we know how to do that" and Iwata said "Okay" and released them from their exclusivity contract.
 
Eternal Darkness 2 seems most likely Nintendo is looking to gain credibility
with the core crowd again seeing their casual approach is not exactly working these days.

Eternal Darkness 2 for Wii U launch!
Believe!
 
ruby_onix said:
SK didn't betray. They were loyal.

They signed on to do Eternal Darkness and Too Human for the GameCube, but after Too Human was done, Miyamoto wanted a Metal Gear, and Kojima said he was too busy to make one on a non-Sony system, and Miyamoto said "I know some guys with nothing better to do." So SK put Too Human aside and did as Miyamoto wanted.

After Twin Snakes, SK wanted to get back to Too Human, maybe on Revolution (Wii), but Iwata said he wanted them to make creative and unique mini-games instead of story-based action games.

SK asked Nintendo about the secret feature of the Revolution (later learned to be waggle), but Iwata said "That's a secret. I can't tell you, even though I already told Ubisoft. Just work around it somehow."

SK said "I don't think we know how to do that" and Iwata said "Okay" and released them from their exclusivity contract.
Click to expand...

Wow, if that had a source and was 100% true i'd be slightly disappointed that Nintendo treated them with less respect than Ubi
 
jonno394 said:
Wow, if that had a source and was 100% true i'd be slightly disappointed that Nintendo treated them with less respect than Ubi
Click to expand...
I obviously made up the quotes, but after SK left, people pestered Dyack to spill the beans on the Revolution's secret, and he said he couldn't tell even if he wanted, because Nintendo never told him.

SK just wasn't a part of Nintendo's new direction.
 
ruby_onix said:
I obviously made up the quotes, but after SK left, people pestered Dyack to spill the beans on the Revolution's secret, and he said he couldn't tell even if he wanted, because Nintendo never told him.
Click to expand...

Obviously ;)

SK just wasn't a part of Nintendo's new direction.
Click to expand...

I find it weird that if Nintendo really wanted them to make mini-games and move away from story based titles then why would they refuse to tell them about the waggle, which a mini-game collection for around launch would benefit from massively.
 
The story and setting of ED are ambiguous enough that they could probably get away with continuing the story in a "spiritual" successor with a new name and no involvement from Nintendo.
 
IceDoesntHelp said:
The question is...do we really want the current Silicon Knights to work on a second Eternal Darkness?
Click to expand...

No, you don't. See, the problem with Eternal Darkness was that once you experienced the gimmick, you can't do it again. People will know and the effect will be lost. So, its going to have to rely on it gameplay which was rather average to begin with.

For SK's sake, lets hope this is a new Star Wars: Rogue Squadron game or something.

BTW SK, there this little platform called the PC where games like Too Human sometimes manage to do pretty well. May want to, look into that as it as smaller developers have been doing quite well for themselves.
 
Ninja Scooter said:
The story and setting of ED are ambiguous enough that they could probably get away with continuing the story in a "spiritual" successor with a new name and no involvement from Nintendo.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure Nintendo has a patent on the insanity effects. :P
 
Sho_Nuff82 said:
Grasshopper, who willingly moved onto the "greener pastures" of HD development?
Click to expand...

Yeah, and how are they doing in those "greener pastures"?
It was a more a comment reflective of one poster who seems to think people don't buy core Wii titles. Grasshopper did much better with those on the little white box than on the big white box.

For SK's sake, lets hope this is a new Star Wars: Rogue Squadron game or something.
Click to expand...

That was Factor 5 :p

SK didn't betray. They were loyal.

They signed on to do Eternal Darkness and Too Human for the GameCube, but after Too Human was done, Miyamoto wanted a Metal Gear, and Kojima said he was too busy to make one on a non-Sony system, and Miyamoto said "I know some guys with nothing better to do." So SK put Too Human aside and did as Miyamoto wanted.

After Twin Snakes, SK wanted to get back to Too Human, maybe on Revolution (Wii), but Iwata said he wanted them to make creative and unique mini-games instead of story-based action games.

SK asked Nintendo about the secret feature of the Revolution (later learned to be waggle), but Iwata said "That's a secret. I can't tell you, even though I already told Ubisoft. Just work around it somehow."

SK said "I don't think we know how to do that" and Iwata said "Okay" and released them from their exclusivity contract.
Click to expand...

Source?
 
border said:
So Silicon Knights' Wii games would have sold even less than their GameCube games? I don't think Grasshopper is exactly a shining example here, especially given where their current development focus is (iOS, HD consoles).
Click to expand...

Grasshopper's most successful game was released on the Wii and started to expand the company.
 
heh this made front page news in Niagara Falls. I personally like Silicon knights but that studio needs work and a new direction.Kind of sucks I was looking forward to Too Human 2 the first one although kind of rough on a production side was still alot of fun.

Source Niagara Falls Review:

A St. Catharines video-game development studio that received a $4 million federal job creation loan 18 months ago has laid off more than half its staff.

Mike Mays, the chief financial officer for Silicon Knights, which has developed titles like Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, said Tuesday the company has temporarily let go of 45 employees due to an unexpected gap in projects and is down to 30-something positions.

Silicon Knights was in line to get a $2.5-million jobs grant from the deficit-plagued Ontario government, announced in July, but Mays said that money has yet to flow.

The provincial funds are on top of a $1 million grant the Ontario government previously provided to the firm to develop a game prototype.

The indebted Government of Canada gave Silicon Knights a $4-million loan in April 2010 that was supposed to have immediately created 65 new jobs, on top of the then existing 100 positions.

QMI Agency quoted company president Denis Dyack saying at the time: "This is going to benefit Silicon Knights in ways that are profound and long-lasting.... We are blown away and we're happy with the support we're getting.... It is something that couldn't have come at a better time."

The federal Community Adjustment Fund loan was handed out by Conservative MP Rick Dykstra in April 2010 at the company's offices in downtown St. Catharines.

The stimulus fund was set up by the Conservative government to create and maintain employment in struggling communities.

The Ontario government grant had a similar goal — to create 80 new jobs and protect the existing 97 positions.

Andrew Block, a spokesman for Ontario Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid, said Tuesday the government is always concerned about layoffs and the impact on employees and their families.

"Our government has taken a proactive approach to building Ontario's digital media and video-gaming sector," Block said. "We'll continue working with Silicon Knights — they're an innovative company and we hope they will bounce back. The funding agreed to has not flowed to date, we will work with the company to determine next steps."
 
The WiiU Tab could provide some new creative angles for insanity effects, which would help keep the experience fresh.

I really hope this is in development.
 
IceDoesntHelp said:
The question is...do we really want the current Silicon Knights to work on a second Eternal Darkness?
Click to expand...
I'd be willing to give them a chance. ED was a very interesting game, and the premise is well suited to the tablet.
 
ruby_onix said:
SK didn't betray. They were loyal.

They signed on to do Eternal Darkness and Too Human for the GameCube, but after Too Human was done, Miyamoto wanted a Metal Gear, and Kojima said he was too busy to make one on a non-Sony system, and Miyamoto said "I know some guys with nothing better to do." So SK put Too Human aside and did as Miyamoto wanted.

After Twin Snakes, SK wanted to get back to Too Human, maybe on Revolution (Wii), but Iwata said he wanted them to make creative and unique mini-games instead of story-based action games.

SK asked Nintendo about the secret feature of the Revolution (later learned to be waggle), but Iwata said "That's a secret. I can't tell you, even though I already told Ubisoft. Just work around it somehow."

SK said "I don't think we know how to do that" and Iwata said "Okay" and released them from their exclusivity contract.
Click to expand...
The way I remember it, once Dyack found out that graphics were not going to be a focal point for the new console, he said he could no longer produce the kinds of games Silicon Knights makes for the system. There was a brief negotiation over IP rights, with seemingly both parties walking away thinking they owned Eternal Darkness, and Dyack immediately tried to sign a deal with Microsoft.
 
Criminal Upper said:
It could literally only be Eternal Darkness.

Konami would not let them touch Metal Gear, no one wants Too Human 2, and Eidos has no plans to ressurect Legacy of Kain.

Nintendo totally owns Eternal Darkness, as they re-filed for the trademark last year.
Click to expand...

I think people would totally buy toohuman 2 if it fixed the main flaws of the original which was an otherwise entertaining loot whoring action game.
 
Grasshopper is an independent developer, and can make their own decisions.

Silicon Knights was partnered with Nintendo. Nintendo generally refuses to even publish games they don't think will clear a million copies (something no SK game has done in at least a decade). Nintendo would have considered No More Heroes a failure. Shit, they probably would have let it rot unpublished like Xenoblade.

Even ignoring that Nintendo was creating a platform that is not conducive to SK-styled games, eventually they would have dropped SK like a hot rock once the sales numbers came in. I fail to see what good continuing on to the Wii would have done them.
 
I wish all the original people from Rare would return to Nintendo, and all the original people from Silicon Knights would return to Nintendo, and all the various game licenses. And then sweet, sweet sequels to Jet Force Gemini, Blast Corps and Eternal Darkness could rain from the skies.
 
ruby_onix said:
I obviously made up the quotes, but after SK left, people pestered Dyack to spill the beans on the Revolution's secret, and he said he couldn't tell even if he wanted, because Nintendo never told him.

SK just wasn't a part of Nintendo's new direction.
Click to expand...

Nintendo sure dodged a bullet then.
 
Probably with the recession, their government can't give enough money to survive.

There is no company with so low productivity and sales able to survive without constant government subsidies.
 
ShockingAlberto said:
The way I remember it, once Dyack found out that graphics were not going to be a focal point for the new console, he said he could no longer produce the kinds of games Silicon Knights makes for the system. There was a brief negotiation over IP rights, with seemingly both parties walking away thinking they owned Eternal Darkness, and Dyack immediately tried to sign a deal with Microsoft.
Click to expand...

This is exactly how I remember it and how I remember IGN reporting it back when you could actually trust IGN Nintendo.
 
ruby_onix said:
SK didn't betray. They were loyal.

They signed on to do Eternal Darkness and Too Human for the GameCube, but after Too Human was done, Miyamoto wanted a Metal Gear, and Kojima said he was too busy to make one on a non-Sony system, and Miyamoto said "I know some guys with nothing better to do." So SK put Too Human aside and did as Miyamoto wanted.

After Twin Snakes, SK wanted to get back to Too Human, maybe on Revolution (Wii), but Iwata said he wanted them to make creative and unique mini-games instead of story-based action games.

SK asked Nintendo about the secret feature of the Revolution (later learned to be waggle), but Iwata said "That's a secret. I can't tell you, even though I already told Ubisoft. Just work around it somehow."

SK said "I don't think we know how to do that" and Iwata said "Okay" and released them from their exclusivity contract.
Click to expand...

If this is true, Nintendo totally sucked back then. I read today that Iwata said recently: "The Wii wasn't designed to be a casual consol" or something like this. But if they wanted that SK makes mini-games, that's simply not true.

However, Nintendo is planning to get the cores back to their systems so it would make sense to collaborate with developers who can do 'mature' games. If they really want to develop some, they will work together with studios they know: Silicon Knights, Facotor 5, nSpace, Kuju.
 
Eternal Darkness 2 and don't fuck it up.

But when he says "the next generation" does he mean the actual next generation, or typical marketing buzzword poop for this generation?
 
EatChildren said:
Eternal Darkness 2 and don't fuck it up.

But when he says "the next generation" does he mean the actual next generation, or typical marketing buzzword poop for this generation?
Click to expand...
Partnering with Nintendo for ED2 on WiiU would make it "next" gen and the "most requested sequel."

Or it could be a PS4/XBOX3/WiiU LOK, right?

EDIT: Need Nirolak to verify current IP ownership for both properties. Haha.
 
Combichristoffersen said:
Nintendo owns the IP, so if SK were to make ED 2, Nintendo would definitely be looking over their shoulder.
Click to expand...

then make a true sequel to the game and call it something slightly different. aka Demon Souls > Dark Souls.

Eternal Demons
 
They are probably still able to produce an interesting title if there is some supervision from Nintendo. But not otherwise, much like Factor 5.

So I'm not interested in anything that is not ED2.
 
I love Eternal Darkness but I'm not sure I want to see a sequel after what my friend said to me after playing X-Men: Destiny.
 
Crazy. I bet Dyack still lurks here.

If its ED2, then they got the IP from Nintendo or it is a "spiritual successor" and will be called Infinite Darkness or some other such nonsense. I strongly doubt that Nintendo would work with them again. Dyack is just such a loose cannon, among other things.

It is almost certainly not a Legacy of Kain game, but hey, you never know.

I bet it's Too Human. I know people, myself included, who would love to play a 4p (LIKE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE) sequel, especially if it had a clean development, and not the nightmare UE3/lawsuit deal that the first one had to deal with.

I'm pretty sure its the lawsuits with Epic that are affecting the company to this degree. Seems like they are "all-in" on the lawsuit.
 
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