Ontario-based Too Human developer Silicon Knights has laid off 26 of its staff, a rep for the company confirmed to Edge on Monday.

"It is just typical development cycle stuff," the rep said in an e-mail.

Silicon Knights' latest release was August's Too Human for Xbox 360, a game allegedly fraught with development difficulties, spurring a lawsuit against middleware provider Epic Games.

A statement from Silicon Knights explained, "After any big game ships, there is often some attrition. Teams are lean and mean in the beginning, grow toward the end of the project, and then whittle down once the project is finished."

The developer called the layoffs "temporary," although the rep didn't answer how often laid-off workers return after such staff cuts.

The studio said that "all of the company's directors and leads" are still with Silicon Knights working on new titles.

Studio president Denis Dyack said in a statement, "These 26 individuals are hard-working and valued team members that we hope to bring back as we ramp up on our future projects.”

He also said Silicon Knights is at work on "several new" games that will be announced in "coming months."

Dyack added, "In addition to those projects, Silicon Knights continues to develop and promote other new and original ideas, which will become the innovative games of tomorrow."

Prior to the cuts, the studio's headcount had swelled to over 180, according to the company.

Thanks to Joystiq for the heads-up.