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Silicon Knights Confirms Layoffs, Working On Next-Gen Project
Silicon Knights representatives confirmed today the studio suffered layoffs and is working on a next-generation project.
Speaking to the Financial Post, Silicon Knights CFO Mike Mayes said the studio laid off 45 employees and has “just under 40” remaining. The studio dismissed a report from 1up.com yesterday that claimed the studio laid off 72 employees and was removing names of developers from the credits of X-Men Destiny who left before the game was completed.
“We just finished a project with [Activision Blizzard] that got completed,” Mayes told the Financial Post. “We had another project lined up that had been in the works for months, which had been green-lit and at the final second, at the high corporate level, the project got canceled. We don’t know why. Probably something to do with the publisher on their side, but that resulted in us having too many people so we had to do a layoff.”
Mayes said the studio is currently negotiating contracts for new projects and hopes to rehire its former employees if successful.
In a separate statement to Kotaku, a Silicon Knights representative said, "The company is currently refocusing and returning to its roots, working on one of its most requested titles for the next generation."
[Edit: The Financial Post originally reported the layoffs were due to a canceled project with Activision but has since been corrected.]
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