The bunch that brought you 2008 dud Too Human is now on the public dole, getting a $US4 million gummint cheque the studio says will help it build its next AAA-game.
The Canadian government gave the money to Silicon Knights of St Catharines, Ontario, under the auspices of a local development grant. Instead of a tax break to lure a prospective business it’s a straight-up cash payment to an existing one, and it’s legal under Canadian law provided the beneficiary has no competitors in its area. Silicon Knights does not.
The studio’s outspoken founder, Denis Dyack, wouldn’t say what kind of game Silicon Knights is cooking up, but did say, according to the Welland Tribune that it’ll take two to five years to develop. Well, that’s only half as long as it took to get Too Human out the door!
“We can only say it’s a next generation title and a high production value game,” Dyack said. “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.”
Dyack has tied his company’s fate to St Catharines’ continued existence before, so, it’s probably why the area’s MP was persuaded to bring home the pork. Nonetheless, the leader of the local chamber of commerce touted the grant money as a sign of good things to come.
“We are going to be known as the gaming capital of Canada,” he said.
Montreal might have something to say about that.
Silicon Knights Get $US4-million Boost [Welland Tribune via The Escapist]
Tristosterone
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 11:37 AMGod, Too Human was so bad it is now a adjective between me and my mates.
That movie was… Too Human.
That meal was… Too Human.
I leave it up to you to guess whether it’s a negative description or not.
WiseHacker
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 12:30 PMHAHGAHAHAHAHAAHA! Best use of that game so far!
Ribs
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 11:53 AMAs crap as Too Human was I really wish we had a scheme like this in Australia, might have saved a job or fifty over the last couple of years.
WiseHacker
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 12:31 PMMate, the men that decide things here still think that gamers are only 12 years old.
Ribs
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 1:08 PMI hear that.
James Mac
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 1:16 PM*cough* Mean Girls Game *cough*
Ross Moir
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 11:55 AMI’m going to hope for an Eternal Darkness sequel.
Jimu_Hsien
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 1:44 PMIm with you, that has to be the best thing they ever did!!
MrTaco
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 2:27 PMThey did that Twin Snakes remake of MGS too. Though I’ve only heard that was good, never got around to playing it myself :P
More Eternal Darkness! But only if it’s on a Nintendo because I don’t have any of the others >_>
FFN
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 11:57 AMThe sword thing in Too Human’s logo always made me think it was called “TooT Human”, which amused me.
Glen Bruton
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 11:58 AM$4million doesnt last long
Jay
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 6:35 PMDepending on the size of their company and of those working on a new game… it may be enough to actually pay their employees – so i think $4million could definitely be enough to prevent giving workers the boot.
But in terms of budget for a AAA game – $4million is for a cutscene. But i think they’ll learn their lesson from Too Human (hopefully) and they won’t actually make a AAA title.
Slayer
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 12:14 PMyay!! another game by silicon knights.. wooo
now to wait 10 years *starts counting*
MrBS
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 12:59 PMI picked up Too Human due to being a Silikon Knights/Legacy of Kain fanboy and had quite a bit of fun with the title. That doesn’t mean the game wasn’t trash but it was fun to play at times. A guilty pleasure of mine.
Korwin
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 1:32 PMSo when does Dennis Dyack start blaming long dev cycles and technical flaws on the government?
OT
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 1:42 PMToo human was a great game its now 8 dollars at game theres no excuse to play it
Mr Waffle
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 3:59 PMI have an excuse: there are a lot of better games waiting to be played, and not enough time for “alright” games to get a look-in.
Riavan
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 1:50 PMToo Human could have been good, but for some reason they made like 5 enemy models and 5 levels then endlessly repeated them over and over again.
Snacuum
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 5:54 PMI am so sick and tired of this bullshit. Too Human DID NOT take 10 years to make.
It’s not as bad as you fucking think.
and it’s not a synonym for “bad game.”
Lucas Brown
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 7:03 PMCalm down. If you had a good time with the game, then power to you. But the consensus was the game was less than great, to put it lightly, and I’m inclined to agree.
Not to mention Denis Dyack has said some pretty retarded things. Do you really think he is an amazing developer, conceiving cutting edge innovations and bringing games to you 50 years ahead of their time? I’ll let you decide…
But the answer is no.
Pete
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 7:00 PMToo Human 2 … PLEASE!! If people had actually played the thing for more than 5 minutes you would realise the control scheme rocked and there were tactics for every enemy type that you could use to not die every 2 minutes. One of my top 5 games on the 360
El Phantasmogoro
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 12:13 PMThese guys made a bunch of great games, both as Silicon Knights and as the majority of the classic Rare team. They make one average game (it wasn’t the shitpile people love to call it) and all of a sudden they are treated like lepers. I hope that new game is coming and I hope it does well. Good on them.