Silicon Knights

Last updated

Silicon Knights
Industry Video games
Founded1992
Defunct2014
Headquarters
St. Catharines, Ontario
,
Canada
Key people
 Denis Dyack
Michael Mays
Number of employees
97 (July 2011) [1]
5 (October 2012) [2] [3]
Website siliconknights.com (archived)

Silicon Knights was a Canadian video game developer. Founded in 1992 by Denis Dyack, the company was headquartered in St. Catharines, Ontario. They started developing for computers such as the Atari ST and IBM PC compatibles. After 1996, they moved to console titles.

Contents

Dyack left Silicon Knights to form a new game studio, Precursor Games, after the loss of a court case against Epic Games over the game engine Unreal Engine 3. [4] Epic Games won the case and a counter-suit for $4.45 million on grounds of copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of contract. [5] Following the case, Silicon Knights filed for bankruptcy on May 16, 2014. [6]

Games

Released

Silicon Knights' first games were real-time strategy/action hybrids for computers. Silicon Knights' last PC game, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain was published in 1996. Since that time, Silicon Knights moved from creating PC games to console titles. In 2000, Silicon Knights was signed by Nintendo to create games exclusively for its consoles, during which time it produced Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem . Together with Nintendo, Silicon Knights worked with Konami to create Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes . [7] In 2004, the company ended exclusivity with Nintendo. In 2005, it partnered with publisher Microsoft Game Studios for Too Human , though Nintendo still owned stock in the company. In 2008, the company released Too Human, which was published by Microsoft for the Xbox 360. The final game developed by the company, X-Men: Destiny , was released on September 2011 for multiple console platforms.

YearGamePlatform(s)
1992 Cyber Empires Amiga, Atari ST, DOS
1993 Fantasy Empires DOS
1994 Dark Legions
1996 The Horde Sega Saturn
1996 Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain Windows, PlayStation
2002 Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem GameCube
2004 Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
2008 Too Human Xbox 360
2011 X-Men: Destiny PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii

Canceled

Canceled games included Silent Hill: The Box (later known as just The Box and The Ritualyst), Too Human 2 (Too Human: Rise of the Giants), Too Human 3, Eternal Darkness 2, and the little-known projects Siren in the Maelstrom, The Sandman and King's Quest (not to be confused with the Sierra series). [8] [9] [10]

Founding of Eight

Silicon Knights was a strong proponent of collaboration with academia and was a key player in the formation of Eight. [11] Eight: The Hamilton Institute for Interactive Digital Media is a collaboration between Silicon Knights, McMaster University, the Art Gallery of Hamilton (AGH) and Mohawk College to create a novel academic and research model around interactive digital media and will help pioneer and shape cutting-edge advances in the interactive entertainment arena.[ citation needed ]

Lawsuit with Epic Games

On July 19, 2007, Silicon Knights sued Epic Games for failure to "provide a working game engine", causing the Ontario-based game developer to "experience considerable losses." [12] The suit alleged that Epic Games was "sabotaging" Unreal Engine 3 licensees. Epic's licensing document stated that a working version of the engine would be available within six months of the Xbox 360 developer kits being released. Silicon Knights claimed that Epic not only missed this deadline, but that when a working version of the engine was eventually released, the documentation was insufficient. The game studio also claimed Epic had withheld vital improvements to the game engine, claiming they were "game specific", while also using licensing fees to fund development of its own titles rather than the engine itself. [13]

In August 2007, Epic Games counter-sued Silicon Knights, alleging the studio was aware when it signed on that certain features of Unreal Engine 3 were still in development and that components would continue to be developed and added as Epic completed work on Gears of War . Therefore, in a statement, Epic said that "SK knew when it committed to the licensing agreement that Unreal Engine 3 may not meet its requirements and may not be modified to meet them." [14] Additionally, the counter-suit claimed that Silicon Knights had "made unauthorized use of Epic's Licensed Technology" and had "infringed and otherwise violated Epic's intellectual property rights, including Epic's copyrighted works, trade secrets, know how and confidential information" by incorporating Unreal Engine 3 code into its own engine. [14] Furthermore, Epic claimed the Canadian developer broke the contract by employing this derivative work in an internal title and a second game with Sega, [15] a partnership for which it never received a license fee. [16]

On May 30, 2012, Epic Games prevailed against Silicon Knights' lawsuit, and won its counter-suit for $4.45 million on grounds of copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of contract, [5] an injury award that was later doubled due to prejudgment interest, attorneys' fees and costs. [17] Consistent with Epic's counterclaims, the presiding judge, James C. Dever III, stated that Silicon Knights had "deliberately and repeatedly copied thousands of lines of Epic Games' copyrighted code, and then attempted to conceal its wrongdoing by removing Epic Games' copyright notices and by disguising Epic Games' copyrighted code as Silicon Knights' own." [17] Evidence against Silicon Knights was "overwhelming", said Dever, as it not only copied functional code but also "non-functional, internal comments Epic Games' programmers had left for themselves." [17]

As a result, on November 7, 2012, Silicon Knights was directed by the court to destroy all game code derived from Unreal Engine 3 and all information from licensee-restricted areas of Epic's Unreal Engine documentation website, and to permit Epic Games access to the company's servers and other devices to ensure these items had been removed. In addition, the studio was instructed to recall and destroy all unsold retail copies of games built with Unreal Engine 3 code, including Too Human , X-Men Destiny , The Sandman, The Box/Ritualyst, and Siren in the Maelstrom (the latter three titles were projects never released, or even officially announced). [18]

Government funding

Provincial

In February 2008, Silicon Knights was granted $500,000 by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) through its Video Game Prototype Initiative. Using this funding, they were to create a prototype for a "third-person action/psychological thriller". [19]

Federal

In April 2010, it was announced that the company would receive nearly $4 million through the Canadian government's Community Adjustment Fund. The purpose of the loan was to allow the hiring of 65 new staff members, who would be working on a new game targeting multiple platforms. The game was estimated to take two to five years to complete. [20]

Provincial

In July 2011, Silicon Knights was awarded $2.5 million to be distributed over five years in provincial funding to improve its technology, create new products and become a self-publishing company. The investment would supposedly have allowed the company to improve its technology, hire 80 new people while keeping 97 current jobs and allow the company to become "self sustaining." As of November 2011, Silicon Knights had not received any of this funding. [1]

Filing for bankruptcy

On May 16, 2014, following the loss of the court case, Silicon Knights filed for bankruptcy and a Certificate of Appointment was issued by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, with Collins Barrow Toronto Limited being appointed as Trustee in Bankruptcy. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nintendo</span> Japanese video game company

Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes and releases both video games and video game consoles.

A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unreal Engine</span> Video game engine developed by Epic Games

Unreal Engine (UE) is a series of 3D computer graphics game engines developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter video game Unreal. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genres of games and has seen adoption by other industries, most notably the film and television industry. Unreal Engine is written in C++ and features a high degree of portability, supporting a wide range of desktop, mobile, console, and virtual reality platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epic Games</span> American video game company

Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, Maryland. Following its first commercial video game release, ZZT (1991), the company became Epic MegaGames, Inc. in early 1992 and brought on Mark Rein, who has been its vice president since. After moving the headquarters to Cary in 1999, the studio changed its name to Epic Games.

<i>Eternal Darkness</i> 2002 video game

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is an action-adventure video game developed by Silicon Knights and published by Nintendo for the GameCube in 2002. It was produced and directed by Denis Dyack. The game follows the story of several characters across a period of two millenia and four different locations on Earth, as they contend with an ancient evil who seeks to enslave humanity. The gameplay distinguishes itself with unique "sanity effects", visual and audial effects that confuse the player and often break the fourth wall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epyx</span> Defunct video game developer and publisher

Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelly and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983. Epyx published a long series of games through the 1980s. The company is currently owned by Bridgestone Multimedia Group Global.

<i>Too Human</i> 2008 video game developed by Silicon Knights

Too Human is an action role-playing game developed by Silicon Knights and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released in August 2008 for the Xbox 360. The game's story is a science-fictional futuristic retelling of Norse mythology that portrays the Æsir, the Norse gods, as cybernetically enhanced humans, tasked with protecting mankind from the onslaught of Loki's army of machines. The player takes the role of the Norse god Baldur, who is less cybernetic than the other gods thus being "too human".

<i>Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain</i> 1996 video game

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is an action-adventure game developed by Silicon Knights and published by Crystal Dynamics, with distribution involvement from Activision and BMG Interactive. It was released for the PlayStation in 1996. A Microsoft Windows port was developed by Semi Logic Entertainments and released jointly by Crystal Dynamics and Activision in 1997, which was rereleased digitally via GOG.com in 2021. The game is the first title in the Legacy of Kain series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denis Dyack</span> Canadian video game developer

Denis Dyack is a Canadian video game developer and the CEO of Apocalypse Studios. He is also the former president of Silicon Knights, and is a video game designer, writer, director and producer. Dyack directed Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and is directing Deadhaus Sonata. Dyack was inducted into the Canadian Gaming Hall of Fame by the Canadian Game Development Talent Awards in November 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unity (game engine)</span> Cross-platform video game and simulation engine

Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies, first announced and released in June 2005 at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as a Mac OS X game engine. The engine has since been gradually extended to support a variety of desktop, mobile, console and virtual reality platforms. It is particularly popular for iOS and Android mobile game development, is considered easy to use for beginner developers, and is popular for indie game development.

A fan game is a video game that is created by fans of a certain topic or IP. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fan games attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, gameplay, and characters, but it is equally common for fans to develop a unique game using another as a template. Though the quality of fan games has always varied, recent advances in computer technology and in available tools, e.g. through open source software, have made creating high-quality games easier. Fan games can be seen as user-generated content, as part of the retrogaming phenomena, and as expression of the remix culture.

<i>X-Men: Destiny</i> 2011 video game

X-Men: Destiny is an action role-playing video game based on the X-Men comic book series. It was developed by Silicon Knights. Written by Mike Carey, the writer of the X-Men: Legacy comic book series, it was published and released by Activision for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles.

Geomerics was a software company based in Cambridge, UK, that specialised in creating lighting technology for the video game industry.

<i>Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo of America Inc.</i> Legal dispute between Atari and Nintendo

Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo of America Inc., 975 F.2d 832, is a U.S. legal case in which Atari Games engaged in copyright infringement by copying Nintendo's lock-out system, the 10NES. The 10NES was designed to prevent Nintendo's video game console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), from playing unauthorized game cartridges. Atari, after unsuccessful attempts to reverse engineer the lock-out system, obtained an unauthorized copy of the source code from the United States Copyright Office and used it to create its 10NES replica, the Rabbit. Atari then sued Nintendo for unfair competition and copyright misuse, and Nintendo responded that Atari had engaged in unfair competition, copyright infringement, and patent infringement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nintendo Switch</span> Hybrid video game console

The Nintendo Switch is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for home console use or used as a portable device, making it a hybrid console. Its wireless Joy-Con controllers, with standard buttons and directional analog sticks for user input, motion sensing, and tactile feedback, can attach to both sides of the console to support handheld-style play. They can also connect to a grip accessory to provide a traditional home console gamepad form, or be used individually in the hand like the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, supporting local multiplayer modes. The Nintendo Switch's software supports online gaming through Internet connectivity, as well as local wireless ad hoc connectivity with other consoles. Nintendo Switch games and software are available on both physical flash-based ROM cartridges and digital distribution via Nintendo eShop; the system has no region lockout. A handheld-focused revision of the system, called the Nintendo Switch Lite, was released on September 20, 2019. A revised higher-end version of the original system, featuring an OLED screen, was released on October 8, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video game preservation</span> Form of preservation in video gaming

Video game preservation is a form of preservation applied to the video game industry that includes, but is not limited to, digital preservation. Such preservation efforts include archiving development source code and art assets, digital copies of video games, emulation of video game hardware, maintenance and preservation of specialized video game hardware such as arcade games and video game consoles, and digitization of print video game magazines and books prior to the Digital Revolution.

<i>Fortnite Battle Royale</i> 2017 video game

Fortnite Battle Royale is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to Fortnite: Save the World, a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially released in early access on September 26, 2017, for macOS, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, followed by ports for iOS, Nintendo Switch, and Android. The following year, Epic dropped the early access label for the game on June 29, 2020. Versions for the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 were released as launch titles in late 2020.

<i>Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Blockbuster Entertainment Corp.</i> Court case

Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. is a 1989 legal case related to the copyright of video games, where Blockbuster agreed to stop photocopying game instruction manuals owned by Nintendo. Blockbuster publicly accused Nintendo of starting the lawsuit after being excluded from the Computer Software Rental Amendments Act, which prohibited the rental of computer software but allowed the rental of Nintendo's game cartridges. Nintendo responded that they were enforcing their copyright as an essential foundation of the video game industry.

Deadhaus Sonata is an upcoming free-to-play cooperative action role-playing video game developed by Apocalypse Studios and directed by Denis Dyack. The game is set to be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. In Deadhaus Sonata, players play undead classes in the House of the Dead and fight the living. Deadhaus Sonata focuses on its gameplay pillars of procedural generation, narrative driven design, Twitch integration, and cooperative asymmetric gameplay, as well as looting and fast-action combat.

References

  1. 1 2 JEFF BOLICHOWSKI. "No grant cash yet, embattled game designer says". St. Catharines Standard. Archived from the original on April 5, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Silicon Knights staff now fewer than 5 – Report | GamesIndustry International". Gamesindustry.biz. October 26, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  3. ↑ "What Went Wrong With Silicon Knights' X-Men: Destiny?". Kotaku.com. October 26, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  4. ↑ Crecente, Brian (May 9, 2013). "Silicon Knights unloads property, closes office, continues battle with Epic Games". Polygon . Vox Media . Retrieved May 10, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Totilo, Stephen (May 30, 2012). "Epic Says Epic Has Won Lawsuit Battle With Silicon Knights [UPDATE: Epic Awarded $4.45 Million]". Kotaku . Gawker Media. Archived from the original on August 24, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Baker Tilly Canada | Chartered Professional Accountants". www.bakertilly.ca.
  7. ↑ "Feature: The Making Of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes". Nintendo Life. December 27, 2016.
  8. ↑ Shepherd, Jack. "News: Cancelled Silicon Knights games detailed". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Silicon Knights' cancelled games laid bare • News •". Eurogamer.net. December 12, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Epic Wins Advantage in Too Human Lawsuit". Escapist Magazine. December 27, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Hamilton poised to become leader in interactive digital media". McMaster Daily News.
  12. ↑ Crecente, Brian (July 19, 2007). "Silicon Knights: Epic Sabotaged Us". Kotaku . Archived from the original on September 16, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  13. ↑ Carless, Simon (July 19, 2007). "Breaking: Silicon Knights Files Lawsuit Against Epic". Gamasutra . UBM TechWeb. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Brightman, James (August 9, 2007). "Mark Rein: Epic Games Did Nothing Wrong; Silicon Knights is Stealing". GameDaily . Archived from the original on November 22, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  15. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (August 9, 2007). "Epic Games countersues Silicon Knights". GameSpot . Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  16. ↑ Graft, Kris (October 31, 2007). "Epic's Motion to Dismiss UE3 Case Denied". Next Generation . Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  17. 1 2 3 Nunneley, Stephany (November 9, 2012). "Epic judgment doubled, Silicon Knights ordered to pay over $9 million". VG247 . Videogaming247. Archived from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  18. ↑ Sawyer, D. (November 7, 2012). "Silicon Knights, Inc. v. Epic Games, Inc". Justia . Archived from the original on September 4, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  19. ↑ "OMDC News Release". Archived from the original on October 18, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Welland Tribune: Silicon Knights get $4-million boost". Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  21. ↑ Collins Barrow Archived April 10, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Trustee In Bankruptcy Of Silicon Knights Inc.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.