Silicon Knights ‘lays off 75 per cent of staff’

Canadian studio Silicon Knights has laid off 75 per cent of its staff, according to sources close to the company.

The massive cut brings the amount of employees at the developer from 97 down to 25.

Two “credible” independent sources speaking to 1up confirmed the rumours that staff had been laid off.

“Silicon Knights has had massive layoffs. They are now down to a core staff of 25 people,” said one of the sources.

The other stated: "It may interest you to note that Silicon Knights laid off all but 25 employees today."

The news comes after the Ontario-based developer received a grant worth an estimated three to four million Canadian dollars from the provincial government in July, that was intended to increase the staff count from 100 to 180.

Studio president Denis Dyack said at the time the grant was a “profound and long-lasting” support package.

Silicon Knights recently released X-Men destiny for consoles in September and the title only made the top ten for Xbox 360 in the UK charts after its first week of release.

The game was also received poorly by critics and has average ratings between 38 and 52 on MetaCritic.

The studio has yet to release a statement confirming or denying the rumours.