The story was first reported in Ontario's Welland Tribune on Friday, and according to company President Denis Dyack, the grant money will be used to develop a new, multi-platform title that will create 65 new jobs.
"This is going to benefit Silicon Knights in ways that are profound and long-lasting," Dyack told the Tribune.
The grant is a surprising development given Silicon Knights' recent history. Too Human, an action role-playing game published in 2008 by Microsoft for the Xbox 360, was in development for nearly a decade and is reported to be one of the most expensive videogames ever made with a budget of more than $80 million. Silicon Knights has never commented on the game's budget, but at $80 million Too Human needed to sell more than 2 million copies just to break even. According to VG Chartz, it sold 670,000 units. The game and its studio also made headlines in an ongoing lawsuit with Epic Games over the use of the Unreal Engine 3. If Epic wins the case, Silicon Knights will owe the company in excess of $650,000.
Silicon Knights did not comment on the new game, but Dyack did say it will take two to five years to develop.
Sharkey says: Too Human over promised and under delivered. The studio has a decent track record, including Legacy of Kain and Eternal Darkness, so hopefully it will get back to making great games with a little boost from the Canadian fed.
