Silicon Knights confirms layoffs, blames Activision

Yesterday, it was reported that Silicon Knights had slashed 74% of its 97 employees. The chief financial officer of the developer, Mike Mays, has confirmed that there have been severe layoffs at the company, but the number of firings were less drastic than the initial figures.

Instead of the reported 72 laid off from the developer, the number of employees fired is 45, leaving 40 left employed at the studio.

Mays blamed Activision for the downsizing, thanks to canceling a project late in development.

”We just finished a project with (Activision) that got completed,” said Mays, referring to X-Men: Destiny. ”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 lay-off.”

Not all is bleak, however. Mays also adds that the developer is currently negotiating contracts for new projects, which would allow them to re-hire the laid off employees.