Skip to main content

Denis Dyack: "I'm sorry for X-Men Destiny"

"I've said a lot of things I shouldn't have said. I've done some things I regret."

Denis Dyack, former chief of Silicon Knights.

Controversial former Silicon Knights chief Denis Dyack has apologised for the poor quality of X-Men: Destiny.

The 5/10 flop came out late 2011 and preceded a round of layoffs at the Canadian developer.

Dyack has since left Silicon Knights to become the chief creative at new studio Precursor Games, which is crowd-funding Shadow of the Eternals, a spiritual successor to Silicon Knights' most-loved game Eternal Darkness. But the effort has stalled amid growing scepticism from Dyack critics who point to a feature by Kotaku, published last year, that painted him in a negative light.

One of the chief allegations made by the piece was that Dyack diverted funds from X-Men: Destiny publisher Activision into other projects to the detriment of the comic-book tie-in. Now, with Precursor Games' Kickstarter floundering, Dyack has made a video responding to the Kotaku article, insisting Silicon Knights put more money into the project than it was paid by publisher Activision.

"Halfway through the project, I sat down with the executives from Activision trying to make the project the best it could be, and we talked about how Silicon Knights had spent $2 million more than what we had been paid, because we realised that after Too Human was one of our worst Metacritic scoring games since our previous games, we wanted our next game to be as good as possible," Dyack said. "So Silicon Knights put its own money in.

"The people at Activision were stunned by this. We went over the figures and numbers and allocations, and then when they realised it was true, what they said to me was, we really appreciate this Denis, but we don't know if that's a good business move.

"We then got together to work out all the issues on the project, both Marvel and Activision, and Silicon Knights, and we did the best we could."

Dyack then apologised for the poor quality of X-Men: Destiny, but declined to offer any explanation for it.

"I will say this: we are really sorry how that game turned out. I would think that there were some mistakes made, but all I can tell you is we did nothing but put our best efforts into this project. Activision, Silicon Knights and Marvel, we all tried to make it work out, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.

"I can only apologise. I've said some things out there that I shouldn't have said in the press about this project and other projects. And I apologise for that. I'm sorry. I've learnt my lesson. I've learnt my lesson so much that at Precursor I am not making business decisions like that, like putting more money into a project than what we're getting paid.

"Shawn [Jackson, COO] and Paul [Caporicci, CEO] are running Precursor. Those mistakes will not happen again. I am focusing on the creative."

We are really sorry how that game turned out. There were some mistakes made, but all I can tell you is we did nothing but put our best efforts into this project.

Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack
Watch on YouTube

Dyack insisted Activision could see where the project was on an hourly basis and, at all times, had the ability to see who was working on what. He also said Silicon Knights complied with a number of audits, which helped the company determine how much money was spent on the troubled project.

"At no time ever did Silicon Knights divert anyone from X-Men: Destiny, or budget allocated, to another project," Dyack said. "In fact, we had more people working on the Activision project than what we were paid for."

Elsewhere, Dyack addressed concern about Silicon Knights' split with Nintendo, which it had enjoyed a close relationship with following the creation of GameCube titles Eternal Darkness and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. According to the Kotaku article, Dyack believed Silicon Knights was "finally out from under the oppressive nature of Nintendo as a publisher" following the split.

"The relationship with Nintendo and me personally is still very good," Dyack responded. "Mr Iwata was the person who recommended Silicon Knights become a second party with Nintendo. He's a great person, and I am privileged to say I worked with him. He's fantastic. The same with Mr Miyamoto. Our relationship at Precursor remains good and strong.

"Silicon Knights and Nintendo went different ways because of the type of games we wanted to make. We talked about that in the press a long time ago and nothing has changed. We have great respect for each other, and we were both disappointed we couldn't go further. But we both agreed that if we wanted to make the type of games we wanted to make, it didn't fit within Nintendo's portfolio. As much as we tried it didn't work out. There's nothing more to it than that.

"Nintendo was not oppressive in any way. They are some of the best people we've ever worked with in the history of the industry. I value the experience with them greatly, and I always will cherish memories of working with Miyamoto-san and Iwata-san. They were not oppressive. They were constructive. They were brave and they allowed us to create games like Eternal Darkness and Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes that rarely are seen today. That allegation could not be further from the truth."

Dyack and Precursor Games will be hoping the video response will help reverse opinion about the Shadow of the Eternals project. At the time of publication $156,775 had been pledged of its $1.35 million goal with 29 days to go.

Dyack concluded: "I don't want to leave anyone with the impression that I've come here today to say I haven't made any mistakes. I've made a lot of mistakes. I've said a lot of things I shouldn't have said. I've done some things I regret. All I can say is I've learned from them, that I have changed the way I think about things, and that I really want to move forward in a positive way and focus on what I do best, which is focusing on creative.

"I am focusing on the future and what great things we're doing at Precursor."

Watch on YouTube

Read this next

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com