History Creator / SiliconKnights

The company started out working on strategy games for home computers, though their first major success would come in ''VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyOfKain'' for the Platform/PlayStation, which was praised for its story and characters. The studio would break ties with publisher Creator/CrystalDynamics in a legal feud over [[VideoGame/LegacyOfKainSoulReaver the game's sequel]], but would manage to find a new partnership with Creator/{{Nintendo}}, who contracted the studio to exclusively create mature titles for their hardware after seeing their work on ''Blood Omen''. This was also short-lived, however, and after two games -- the first of which, ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'', is often lauded as the studio's MagnumOpus -- Silicon Knights ended the exclusivity deal due to being unimpressed with the technical specifications Platform/{{Wii}}.

In 2007, Silicon Knights [[FrivolousLawsuit sued]] Epic Games for selling them an unfinished and inferior version of the Unreal Engine 3, arguing that they were sabotaging competitors to prop up their own titles like ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and that Epic should relinquish all profits from the game as recompense. Epic then proceeded to [[GoneHorriblyWrong sue them back]]; not only arguing that Silicon Knights ''knew'' that [=UE3=] was in early development and that Epic may be unable to offer support for any issues that arose, but claiming that the proprietary engine Silicon Knight made after ditching [=UE3=] actually used a significant amount of [=UE3=] code without Epic's permission. In 2012, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Epic won this case]], and Silicon Knights was ordered to recall and destroy all unsold copies of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense, delete the source code for both games (plus all games they had in development) and allow Epic Games access to their servers to ensure they actually did so, and pay $9 million in damages and legal fees. The financial hit was ultimately too much for the studio to recover from, and Silicon Knights had little choice but to [[CreatorKiller file for bankruptcy in 2014]].

The company started out working on strategy games for home computers, though their first major success would come in ''VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyOfKain'' for the Platform/PlayStation, which was praised for its story and characters. The studio would break ties with publisher Creator/CrystalDynamics in a legal feud over [[VideoGame/LegacyOfKainSoulReaver the game's sequel]], but would quickly find itself in partnership with Creator/{{Nintendo}}, who contracted the studio to exclusively create mature titles for their hardware after seeing their work on ''Blood Omen''. This partnership was also short-lived, however, and after two games -- the first of which, ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'', is often lauded as the studio's MagnumOpus -- Silicon Knights ended it due to being unimpressed with the hardware performance of the then-upcoming Platform/{{Wii}}.

In 2007, Silicon Knights [[FrivolousLawsuit sued]] Epic Games for selling them an unfinished and inferior version of the Unreal Engine 3, arguing that they were sabotaging competitors to prop up their own titles like ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and that Epic should relinquish all profits from the game as recompense. Epic then proceeded to [[GoneHorriblyWrong sue them back]]; not only stating that Silicon Knights ''knew'' that [=UE3=] was unfinished and that Epic might not offer support for any issues that arose, but claiming that the proprietary engine Silicon Knight made after ditching [=UE3=] actually contained several chunks of [=UE3=] code without permission, and thus constituted as copyright infringement. In 2012, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Epic won this case]], and Silicon Knights was ordered to recall and destroy all unsold copies of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense, delete the source code for both games (plus all games they had in development) and allow Epic Games access to their servers to ensure they actually did so, and pay $9 million in damages and legal fees. The financial hit was ultimately too much for the studio to recover from, and Silicon Knights had little choice but to [[CreatorKiller file for bankruptcy in 2014]].

In 2007, Silicon Knights [[FrivolousLawsuit sued]] Epic Games for selling them an unfinished and inferior version of the Unreal Engine 3, arguing that they were sabotaging competitors to prop up their own titles like ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and that Epic should relinquish all profits from the game as recompense. Not only did Epic Games win the lawsuit by proving that Silicon Knights ''knew'' that [=UE3=] was unfinished and that Epic might not offer support for any issues that arose, but the company then proceeded to [[GoneHorriblyWrong sue them back]]. As it turns out, the proprietary engine Silicon Knight made after ditching [=UE3=] actually contained several chunks of [=UE3=] code, and SK was trying to claim the resulting mish-mash [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} as their own work]] without crediting Epic or paying them royalties. In 2012, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Epic won this case]], and the judge ordered Silicon Knights to recall and destroy all unsold copies of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense, as well as delete the source code for both games (plus any games they had in development that use the engine) and allow Epic Games access to their servers to ensure they actually did so. Add to that the $9 million they owed in damages and legal fees, plus the $4 million they already owed to the Canadian government, and the studio had little choice but to [[CreatorKiller file for bankruptcy in 2014]].

A defunct VideoGame studio that was based in [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} St. Catharines, Ontario]], founded by Denis Dyack in 1992. While the company started out working on strategy games for home computers, they would later move on to creating games for consoles. Over their two decades of existence, Silicon Knights is best remembered for three things: being the original creators of the ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series, their brief partnership with Creator/{{Nintendo}} that resulted in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid:'' ''[[VideoGameRemake The Twin Snakes]]'', and the disastrous late 2000s lawsuit against Creator/EpicGames that led to them declaring bankruptcy in 2014.

In 2007, Silicon Knights [[FrivolousLawsuit sued]] Epic Games for (alledgedly) selling them an unfinished and inferior version of the Unreal Engine 3, arguing that they were sabotaging competitors to prop up their own titles like ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and that Epic should relinquish all profits from the game as recompense. Epic Games [[GoneHorriblyWrong sued them back]], countering that a good chunk of the supposed proprietary engine Silicon Knights had created after ditching Unreal Engine 3 actually consisted of [=UE3=] code, and that Silicon was trying to claim the resulting mish-mash [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} as their own work]] without crediting Epic or paying them royalties. In 2012, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Epic won]], and the judge ordered Silicon Knights to recall and destroy all unsold copies of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense, delete the source code for both games plus three more games that were in development, and allow Epic Games access to the [=SK=] servers to ensure that all the offending code had been deleted. Add to that the $9 million they owed in damages and legal fees, plus the $4 million they already owed to the Canadian government, and [[CreatorKiller the studio was dead]].

* ''Steel Empire'' (1992, Atari ST)
* ''Cyber Empires'' (1992, Amiga/Atari ST/DOS)
* ''Dark Legions'' (1994, DOS)

* ''The Horde'' (1996, Saturn)
* ''VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyOfKain'' (1996, [=PS=]/Windows)
* ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness: Sanity's Requiem'' (2002, [=GCN=])
* ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes]]'' (2004, [=GCN=])
* ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' (2008, Xbox 360)
* ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' (2011, [=PS3=]/Xbox 360/Wii)

!!Silicon Knights has the following Trivia.

* CreatorKiller: If ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'''s poor commercial performances didn't kill them off, the spectacular backfire of their lawsuit against Creator/EpicGames certainly did.
* MagnumOpusDissonance: ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' was Denis Dyack's baby, and he spent most of the company's lifespan trying to get it off the ground, but hardly any gamers shed a tear when the final game (intended to be the first in a longer saga) got ScrewedByTheLawyers. People were far more concerned about what this could mean about the potential future of ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness''.
%%* ProtectionFromEditors: Silicon Knights, under publishers Nintendo and Konami, was under strong editorial control because those companies had quality brand names to protect. The success of ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' and ''[[Videogame/MetalGearSolid Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes]]'' earned SK a lot of clout to shrug off the editorial control. Unfortunately for them, that editorial control prevented Dyack from running things into the ground, and what followed were two [[VideoGame/TooHuman major]] [[VideoGame/XMenDestiny flops]].
* StillbornFranchise:
** ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' was supposed to be a trilogy, but the poor sales of the first game combined with the company's implosion has made further installments destroyed all chances for the series' future.
** ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' also had many fans clamoring for a sequel, which Silicon Knights was interested in providing, but they never manifested.
* {{UnPerson}}: Almost. When people started leaving the development team of ''X-Men Destiny'' due to being laid off, their names were taken out of the credits due to a policy previously created by Denis Dyack. The names were put back in, but under the "Special Thanks" section.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: After Epic won the lawsuit, Silicon Knights had to cancel several games that were in development. One of which was based on Creator/NeilGaiman's ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989''.

A now-defunct VideoGame studio that based in [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} St. Catharines, Ontario]], founded by Denis Dyack in 1992. While the company started out working on strategy games for home computers, they later moved on to creating games for consoles after 1996. Over their two decades of existence, Silicon Knights is best remembered for three things: being the original creators of the ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series, their brief partnership with Creator/{{Nintendo}} that resulted in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid:'' ''[[VideoGameRemake The Twin Snakes]]'', and the disastrous late 2000s lawsuit against Creator/EpicGames that led to them declaring bankruptcy in 2014.

In 2007, Silicon Knights [[FrivolousLawsuit sued]] Epic Games for selling them an unfinished and inferior version of the Unreal Engine 3, arguing that they were sabotaging competitors to prop up their own titles like ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and that Epic should relinquish all profits from the game as recompense. Epic Games [[GoneHorriblyWrong sued them back]], countering that a good chunk of the supposed proprietary engine Silicon Knights had created after ditching Unreal Engine 3 actually consisted of [=UE3=] code, and that Silicon was trying to claim the resulting mish-mash [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} as their own work]] without crediting Epic or paying them royalties. In 2012, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Epic won]], and the judge ordered Silicon Knights to recall and destroy all unsold copies of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense, delete the source code for both games plus three more games that were in development, and allow Epic Games access to the [=SK=] servers to ensure that all the offending code had been deleted. Add to that the $9 million they owe in damages and legal fees plus the $4 million they already owed to the Canadian government, and [[CreatorKiller the studio was pretty much dead]].

* CreatorKiller: If ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'''s poor performance didn't kill them off, the spectacular backfire of their lawsuit against Creator/EpicGames certainly did.
* MagnumOpusDissonance: ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' was Denis Dyack's baby, but hardly any gamers shed a tear when the game got ScrewedByTheLawyers. On the other hand, much was lamented over the loss of most chances of getting a sequel to ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness''.
* ProtectionFromEditors: Silicon Knights, while being published by Nintendo and Konami, was under strong editorial control because those companies had quality brand names to protect. The success of ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' and ''[[Videogame/MetalGearSolid Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes]]'' earned SK a lot of clout to shrug off the editorial control. Unfortunately for them, that editorial control prevented Dyack from running things into the ground, and what followed were two [[VideoGame/TooHuman major]] [[VideoGame/XMenDestiny flops]].

** ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' was supposed to be a trilogy, but the poor sales of the first game combined with the company's implosion has made further installments highly unlikely.
** ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' also had many fans clamoring for a sequel, which Silicon Knights was interested in providing, but they didn't get around to it in time. Two separate attempts were launched by SK to crowd source a SpiritualSuccessor to the game but both fell far short of their funding goals.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: After Epic won the lawsuit, Silicon Knights had to cancel several games that were in development. One of which was based on Creator/NeilGaiman's ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.

* ''VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyOfKain'' (1996, [=PS=]/Windows)

* ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness: Sanity's Requiem'' (2002, [=GCN=])

* ''Steel Empire'' (1992, Atari ST)

In 2007, Silicon Knights [[FrivolousLawsuit sued]] Epic Games for selling them an unfinished and inferior version of the Unreal Engine 3, arguing that they were sabotaging competitors to prop up their own titles like ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and that Epic should relinquish all profits from the game as recompense. Epic Games [[GoneHorriblyWrong sued them back]], countering that a good chunk of the supposed proprietary engine Silicon Knights had created after ditching Unreal Engine 3 actually consisted of [=UE3=] code, and that Silicon was [[WhatAnIdiot trying to claim]] the resulting mish-mash [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} as their own work]] without crediting Epic or paying them royalties. In 2012, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Epic won]], and the judge ordered Silicon Knights to recall and destroy all unsold copies of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense, delete the source code for both games plus three more games that were in development, and allow Epic Games access to the [=SK=] servers to ensure that all the offending code had been deleted. Add to that the $9 million they owe in damages and legal fees plus the $4 million they already owed to the Canadian government, and [[CreatorKiller the studio was pretty much dead]].

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: After Epic's won the lawsuit, Silicon Knights had to cancel several games that were in development. One of which was based on Creator/NeilGaiman's ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: A game based on Creator/NeilGaiman's ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' was apparently in development at one point.

A now-defunct VideoGame studio that based in [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} St. Catharines, Ontario]], founded by Denis Dyack in 1992. While the company started out working on strategy games for home computers, they later moved on to creating games for consoles after 1996. Over their two decades of existence, Silicon Knights is arguably best remembered three things: being the original creators of the ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series, their brief partnership with Creator/{{Nintendo}} in the early 2000s that resulted in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid:'' ''[[VideoGameRemake The Twin Snakes]]'', and the disastrous lawsuit during the latter half of the decade that resulted in them declaring bankruptcy in 2014.

In 2007, Silicon Knights [[FrivolousLawsuit sued]] Creator/EpicGames for selling them an unfinished and inferior version of the Unreal Engine 3. Epic Games [[GoneHorriblyWrong sued them back]], countering that Silicon Knights had rewritten some but not all of the Unreal Engine 3 code and [[WhatAnIdiot tried to claim]] the resulting mish-mash [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} as their own work]], without crediting Epic or paying them royalties. In 2012, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Epic won]], and the judge ordered Silicon Knights to recall and destroy all unsold copies of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense, delete the source code for both games plus three more games that were in development, and allow Epic Games access to the [=SK=] servers to ensure that all the offending code had been deleted. Add to that the $9 million they owe in damages and legal fees plus the $4 million they already owed to the Canadian government, and [[CreatorKiller the studio was pretty much dead]].

A now-defunct VideoGame studio that based in [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} St. Catharines, Ontario]], founded by Denis Dyack in 1992. While the company started out working on strategy games for home computers, they later moved on to creating games for consoles after 1996. Over their two decades of existence, Silicon Knights is arguably best remembered two things: their brief partnership with Creator/{{Nintendo}} in the early 2000s, and the disastrous lawsuit during the latter half of the decade that resulted in them declaring bankruptcy in 2014.

A now-defunct VideoGame studio based in [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} St. Catharines, Ontario]] that was founded by Denis Dyack in 1992. The company started out working on strategy games for home computers, but moved on to consoles after 1996. The company acquired fame in the early 2000's during their brief, close partnership with Creator/{{Nintendo}} before moving on.

In 2007, Silicon Knights [[FrivolousLawsuit sued]] Creator/EpicGames for selling them an unfinished and inferior version of the Unreal Engine 3. Epic Games [[GoneHorriblyWrong sued them back]], countering that Silicon Knights had rewritten some but not all of the Unreal Engine 3 code and [[WhatAnIdiot tried to claim]] the resulting mish-mash [[UsefulNotes/{{Plagiarism}} as their own work]], without crediting Epic or paying them royalties. In 2012, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Epic won]], and the judge ordered Silicon Knights to recall and destroy all unsold copies of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' at their own expense, delete the source code for both games plus three more games that were in development, and allow Epic Games access to the [=SK=] servers to ensure that all the offending code had been deleted. [[CreatorKiller Add to that the $9 million they owe in damages and legal fees plus the $4 million they already owed to the Canadian government, and it's pretty safe to say that Silicon Knights is no more]].

!Silicon Knights has the following Trivia.