Plus, the surprising revelation about a nixed Sega/Silicon Knights collaboration.
Too Human was supposed to be the start of the next great, expansive RPG franchise and a reason that gamers would want an Xbox 360 back in its early days. Touting a futuristic take on Norse mythology, the Silicon Knights-developed game was supposed to be a big deal. But then, the game was delayed for two years, the critical response to the game was less than enthusiastic (the combat was stiff, repetitive, and just plain not fun), and what was intended to be the next great trilogy was DOA with just 130,000 units sold and Microsoft ending their agreement with Silicon Knights.
It's been a while since we've heard any news about it, but remember Silicon Knights' suit against Epic Games over Too Human? Essentially, Silicon Knights alleges that Epic misrepresented the functionality of Unreal Engine which was initially used for Too Human, resulting in a two year delay of the Xbox 360 exclusive action-RPG with Silicon Knights claiming to have to rebuild Epic's much-used engine to get the game out the door. It's Silicon Knights' contention that the delay, resulted in decreased sales of the game, critically impaired the developer's relationship with Microsoft (ending an agreement to develop two additional sequels), and damaging their reputation throughout the game industry.
Well, Silicon Knights' case against Epic Games has taken a blow as one of the former's key witnesses—Certified Public Account, Terry Lloyd—has been excluded from giving testimony after a ruling by by Chief District Judge James Dever III. The purpose of Lloyd's testimony was to break it down, into dollars and cents, the negative impact working with the Unreal Engine was purported to have on Silicon Knights. However, his testimony and methodology was found to be questionable by the judge in the case and furthermore that his methods "did not fit the facts of the case." Essentially, Jedge Dever III ruling concludes that Lloyd's best guesses about how badly this whole thing has hurt Silicon Knights boils down to just that: best guesses. Furthermore, since Silicon Knights was reimbursed by Microsoft for the development of the game, the judge found that Lloyd's assertion of financial harm was irrelevant under North Carolina law.
According to Siliconera, the court documents also show that back in 2005, Silicon Knights and Sega were partnering up for a a game called The Ritualyst, which Sega ultimately dropped (Lloyd calculated that the unfinished game would have sold 2.8 million units). Silicon Knights was also negotiating the development of Sandman and King's Quest games for Capcom, Namco, and Vivendi.
[Sources: Siliconera, The Escapist]
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