Overwritten.net

Games => General Gaming => Topic started by: MysterD on Friday, November 09, 2012, 05:30:06 PM

Title: Silicon Knights THREAD -> Update: Dyack responds to Kotaku ; Kotaku responds.
Post by: MysterD on Friday, November 09, 2012, 05:30:06 PM
NEWEST -> 5-20-2013:
Youtube -> Denis Dyack responds to the Kotaku article (approx. 34 minutes). (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Lm6gGFLMr_o#at=1067)
Kotaku -> Kotaku responds to Dyack's response. (http://kotaku.com/denis-dyack-finally-sounds-off-on-our-article-about-sil-508948428)

OLDER:
Kotaku -> "What Went Wrong With Silicon Knights’ X-Men: Destiny?" (http://kotaku.com/5955223/what-went-wrong-with-silicon-knights-x+mek-destiny)

ORIGINAL:
Shacknews -> Silicon Knights ordered by court to DESTROY all of their Unreal Engine games. (http://www.shacknews.com/article/76589/silicon-knights-ordered-to-destroy-unreal-engine-games)

Quote
Silicon Knights ordered to destroy Unreal Engine games
by Steve Watts, Nov 09, 2012 8:15am PST

Related Topics – Too Human, X-Men: Destiny, X-Men: Destiny, Epic Games, Legal, Silicon Knights, Unreal Engine 3

Silicon Knights has gotten another heaping helping of bad news: a court order to cease production of and destroy all games that use the Unreal Engine. The document, signed by district court judge James C. Dever III on Wednesday, requires that the company destroy all versions of game code that used Unreal Engine 3 by no later than December 10, 2012.

The order (via NeoGAF) explicitly names Too Human, X-Men Destiny, The Box/Ritualist, The Sandman, and Siren in the Maelstrom. It also requires Silicon Knights to cease producing or distributing those games, and to recall and destroy any unsold copies. The company is required to destroy any other games using the licensed engine, any versions of Unreal Engine 3 still in its possession, and any information obtained from licensee restricted portions of the Unreal Network. Finally, it owes Epic an additional $4.7 million, a combination of prejudgment interest ($2.3 million), attorney's fees ($2.09 million) and assorted costs ($278,000).

After Silicon Knights modified the Unreal Engine and called it the "Silicon Knights Engine," the company became embroiled in a lengthy legal battle with engine creator Epic Games -- which it subsequently lost to the tune of $4.45 million. The company has suffered two sets of layoffs, one before the legal loss and one after. At last count, only five employees remain, including studio head Denis Dyack.
Title: Re: Silicon Knights ordered by court to DESTROY all of their Unreal Engine games
Post by: Quemaqua on Friday, November 09, 2012, 11:16:35 PM
Holy shit dude. That's kind of awful. Admittedly, they haven't done anything worth playing in a good while, nor had I heard of most of those games... but a couple of them sounded kinda cool. And this basically kills them unless they have some magical trick up their sleeves.
Title: Re: Re: Silicon Knights ordered by court to DESTROY all of their Unreal Engine games
Post by: gpw11 on Saturday, November 10, 2012, 01:04:08 AM
That's really bad and kind of strange, I guess the lesson is don't try to sue Epic?
Title: Re: Silicon Knights ordered by court to DESTROY all of their Unreal Engine games
Post by: Xessive on Saturday, November 10, 2012, 03:50:40 AM
Damn.. The guys behind Silicon Knights were from my university too! (Brock U)
Title: Re: Silicon Knights ordered by court to DESTROY all of their Unreal Engine games
Post by: Cobra951 on Saturday, November 10, 2012, 05:01:39 AM
From what I was reading elsewhere, the evidence was really damning.  About all they did to hide the theft was change the name of some variables.
Title: Re: Silicon Knights ordered by court to DESTROY all of their Unreal Engine games
Post by: MysterD on Saturday, November 10, 2012, 07:46:03 AM
I don't know if you guys read this expose on SK yet, so I'll link it...
It's a doosy.

Kotaku -> "What Went Wrong With Silicon Knights’ X-Men: Destiny?" (http://kotaku.com/5955223/what-went-wrong-with-silicon-knights-x+mek-destiny)

Title: Re: Silicon Knights ordered by court to DESTROY all of their Unreal Engine games
Post by: MysterD on Monday, May 20, 2013, 05:38:41 PM
Youtube -> Denis Dyack responds to the Kotaku article (approx. 34 minutes). (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Lm6gGFLMr_o#at=1067)
Kotaku -> Kotaku responds to Dyack's response. (http://kotaku.com/denis-dyack-finally-sounds-off-on-our-article-about-sil-508948428)