In one of several recent unfortunate setbacks for developer Silicon Knights, Too Human, their first title for current-generation consoles, has been taken off of the Xbox Live Marketplace’s Games on Demand service. All related downloadable content, such as trailers or gamerpics, has also vanished.
The likely cause for the game’s removal comes from a lawsuit directed towards the company last November from Epic Games, known today for the Gears of War franchise. The company had licensed out their Unreal game engine for use in Too Human and Silicon Knights’ last game, X-Men: Destiny. Silicon Knights originally sued Epic claiming a breach of contract regarding the engine’s licensing. Epic sued them back, claiming that Silicon Knights had used the engine illegally.
The ultimate outcome of the case ended up being with Silicon Knights owing Epic over $9 million, which has led to massive downsizing and several project cancellations for the troubled developer. Additionally, the company was ordered to recall and destroy all physical copies of both Too Human and X-Men Destiny, due to their illegal use of the Unreal Engine. Currently, Destiny is still available on the Xbox Marketplace, but this may change in the near future if this recent development is any indication.
It’s always a shame to see a game company and its employees struggle, and Silicon Knights’ recent setbacks are no exception. With some luck, they may be able to get another project off the ground and recoup some of their losses. Only time will tell though. In the meantime, those who bought physical copies of their last two games might want to hold on to them – they may eventually become collector’s items thanks to the recent recall.
What do you think of the developer’s struggles, as well as the games themselves? Please post a comment with your thoughts on the matter.