Dead Space Slayer Ended Up a Flop - Team Leader Leaves
Following the failure of The Callisto Protocol, Striking Distance, the studio responsible for the game parted ways with Glen Schofield.
The Callisto Protocol didn't turn out to be as successful as expected, so there have been quite a few changes at Striking Distance, the studio responsible for the game.
- The team parted ways with its head and founder Glen Schofield, who is also co-creator of the Dead Space brand. Along with him, two other employees left - chief operating officer Stacey Hirata and chief financial officer Johnny Hsu.
- Steve Papoutsis, previously responsible for planning the company's future and managing new product development, became the studio's new leader.
- Krafton, which owns Striking Distance, commented on the matter, announcing that the departures were voluntary, and that Schofield himself "decided to seek new opportunities to advance his career."
- At the same time, Schofield stated that the studio is in good hands.
- Interestingly, at one time the developers saw The Callisto Protocol as a live-service game and promised four years of support.
- Recall that The Callisto Protocol was released last December on PC and Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles.
The game turned out to be a commercial disappointment. The project was very expensive - the budget amounted to as much as $162 million, and sales turned out to be lower than expected. As a result, last month there were layoffs at Striking Distance, which resulted in 32 developers out of a staff of 144 saying goodbye to their jobs.
The Callisto Protocol was not helped by the fact that, heralded as the spiritual heir to Dead Space, the game was released just weeks before the much more warmly received remake of the first Dead Space. Compared to that blockbuster, the work of Striking Distance, plagued by numerous technical problems, did not stand much of a chance.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the recent reception of The Callisto Protocol has improved somewhat, at least on PC. While counting all reviews on Steam only 62% are positive, for those from the last 30 days it is already 72%.
