Canadian videogame developers Silicon Knights and Digital Extremes will split $1 million of government funding for the development of new videogame concepts.
The money is being granted by the Ontario Media Development Corporation, an agency of the provincial Ministry of Culture that promotes economic development in industries including book and magazine publishing, film and television, music and digital media. The two developers were selected for the grant based on a review panel that included Jay Cohen of Ubisoft, Dan Winters of Activision and Andrew Ayre of Other Ocean Interactive.
OMDC CEO Karen Thorne-Stone said, “By providing critical support at the prototyping stage, OMDC is helping Ontario game developers to retain a greater share of the intellectual property and to demand higher royalty payments – which help to grow the industry and keep jobs in the province.”
“Ontario’s best natural resource is our people, and with all the great universities and colleges in Ontario, there’s an abundance of bright and creative talent,” added Silicon Knights President Denis Dyack. “Most of Silicon Knights’ team are graduates of Ontario colleges and universities, and our team members are the best and brightest in their fields. This grant will encourage this great talent to stay within Ontario.”
Founded in 1992, Too Human developer Silicon Knights has created titles including Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, and has also been in the news recently for its lawsuit against Epic Games. Digital Extremes, of London, Ontario, is the studio behind the Unreal and Unreal Tournament series of games, and is currently at work on Dark Sector for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
