Precursor says it's 'a wholly different company' from Silicon Knights
Precursor Games CEO Paul Caporicci says they "understand the skepticism" over its new studio's ties to Silicon Knights, but want the opportunity to show people that it's "a wholly different company."
Precursor Games, developer of the crowdfunded "spiritual successor" to Eternal Darkness, has been greeted with skepticism due to the company's connection to ex-Silicon Knights staff--including the vocal former head of SK, Denis Dyack. CEO Paul Caporicci is attempting to distance the new studio from the less-than-sterling SK legacy, claiming it's a wholly new company.
"We realize that those negative impressions exist and we're doing our best to show everyone Precursor is a totally new entity," Caporicci told GI.biz. "I understand that skepticism but we just want an opportunity to show people that it's not that. We did work at Silicon Knights but we're trying to do something new and it's different positions and a different structure and it is a wholly different company," he continued.
Though Caporicci refused to talk in detail about Silicon Knights, he did say he was laid off and reached out to other ex-SK staff to form the new company. He was hesitant to talk much about the defunct developer, but he said that they purchased some art assets from Silicon Knights for use in its first game, Shadow of the Eternals.
This is all set against the backdrop of continuing drama over Silicon Knights. Polygon reports that CFO Mike Mays says the studio is "definitely alive," even though its Ontario office is reportedly closed. Mays declined to talk about where the remaining employees are located, or even how many employees remain. Bankruptcy expert David Smith said that anyone seeking money from Precursor to settle its Silicon Knights debts, including Epic Games, would have to file a new suit. Precursor seems to be washing its hands of Silicon Knights entirely, and creating a new studio could make an extra hoop to jump through for anyone attempting to get money from the developer.
-
Shacknews
replySteve Watts posted a new article, Precursor says its 'a wholly different company' from Silicon Knights.
Precursor Games CEO Paul Caporicci says they "understand the skepticism" over its new studio's ties to Silicon Knights, but want the opportunity to show people that it's "a wholly different company."-
How can it be a whole different company if that hack Dyack is still in charge and most of the staff from SK is still involved?
-
And they're marketing their game as "from the creators of Eternal Darkness." Can't have your cake and eat it too.
-
what's funny is that until they changed it, their own version of kickstarter stated that any money that was donated, even if it didn't meet the final number, was theirs, and that they were under no obligation to fulfill the pledges. And yet as of a few days ago it was around 100k. I shudder to see what it's at now.
-
-
To be fair , Dyack is only Chief Creative, he's in charge of the game and isn't part of the business side (which was the reason SK went to shit).
-
Dyack is not in charge of the company. He's the CCO, which is what he was always best at in the first place. If he's got someone to take the project scheduling and PR out of his hands, which is sounds like he does, then it's really all for the best and will let the guy do his thing without bogging down the pipeline.
-
i still wouldn't them with my money.
-
Kickstarters for for-profit ventures are not for me, period. I'm definitely hoping they get the money they need to make this happen, though.
If the new hierarchy can get a game out the door in a timely fashion, it's a good thing. All of the negative press has been out of proportion to the quality of their games. Dyack is a very talented guy and is one of the few Western game auteurs who knows how to bring a unique vision to his titles.
Even if Shadow of the Eternals is the Best Game Ever™, they'll have to get it out the door on time, plus probably do something else like get involved in a superlative new Legacy of Kain game before the goodwill can really be reclaimed.
-
-
[deleted]
-
-
-
Can't imagine Dyack has had a good week. Learning that the world doesn't trust you can be a bummer
-
I'm sure it is. I'm sure it is.
-
Am I the only one who thinks that NONE of their games were any good?
I loved a lot of the concepts of their games but their execution was always a shave away from being good.
Legacy of Kain had its issues and this is me being forgiving of the horrid loading times which were bad for early PSX standards.
Eternal Darkness had a great story but I thought the horror elements were average. The insanity system simply doesn't work because you have a meter telling you that you're insane. If you are fully aware of your sanity then the effect doesn't work and is predictable... even at first playthrough.
Twin Snakes was a great idea but they didn't touch the map layouts and boss behaviors to compensate for new control mechanics. Some areas were bugged because of the new patrol behaviors. I had a guard trip a laser sensor which raised alert on me and caused a response team to bee line to me. Bosses can be exploited in first person camera. To top it off they changed many of the cutscenes to be pretty ridiculous and cringey (moreso than usual).
-
