Glen Schofield, co-creator of Dead Space and director of The Callisto Protocol, is leaving developer Striking Distance Studios. Schofield founded the studio and served as CEO, which was opened in conjunction with publisher KRAFTON in 2019.
As reported by Bloomberg, Schofield's departure was because the veteran developer had "decided to pursue new opportunities". Striking Distance's chief operating officer, Stacey Hirata, and chief financial officer, Johnny Hsu, will leave simultaneously. A KRAFTON representative told Bloomberg and IGN that all three departed the studio voluntarily. The Callisto Protocol reportedly failed to meet sales expectations or even to recoup development costs.
Released in December 2022, we enjoyed The Callisto Protocol but noted that it played things a bit safe and didn't do enough to separate itself from its spiritual progenitor. The more warmly received remake of Dead Space, launched in late January of 2023, likely didn't help matters much.
General manager and chief development officer Steve Papoutsis will take over as CEO. Schofield said in a statement addressing his departures: "Creating Striking Distance Studios has been an incredible journey, and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved with The Callisto Protocol, a game close to my heart. While pursuing a new adventure is exciting, leaving SDS is bittersweet, but I know the studio is in excellent hands."
Are you surprised by this turn of events? What do you think comes next for Striking Distance Studios, and where do you think Schofield goes next? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source bloomberg.com, via ign.com]
Comments 23
Way to abandon a studio after making one game that flopped.
Wow, tanks the studio and moves on
He basically just opened the studio and is already bouncing because his game didn't set the world on fire, that's embarrassing for him.
If I was a studio I would be hesitant to hire him as if things don't go perfectly he'll just take his ball and go home
its probably more studio says we cant spend 184 million on the next game and not even get our money back.
Both disappointing and surprising tbh. I hope he'll resurface somewhere else as I think he has contributed to interesting games and he's a skilled artist actually.
Yeah really disappointing to see to be honest
If you want a laugh try to play the PS4 version from the Disk without the patches. It literally runs like a slow motion replay from a football game. The patched version works fine though.
Don't worry, he'll do what every unsuccessful CEO does: get a CEO gig elsewhere.
I feel this is also a good time to once again point out that Schofield was NOT the director of the original Dead Space, but executive producer, which is not exactly a creative role. He might've created Dead Space, but it was not him that directed it into a great game.
Who really knows, he might have more private reasons (family, etc) why he's leaving so I find it daft to judge him, but that's the internet for you.
Now to make a new studio and a new Dead Space clone
I think to open a studio in 2019 and release a game of that visual quality in 2022 is an outstanding feat. Even with that huge budget.
Currently playing, and I have loved and hated this game. Visually it is absolutely fabulous, atmospheric AF. Gameplay wise it is fairly basic, which I don't mind that much. What I do mind are these impossible difficulty spikes. It felt like it needed a few rounds of user testing before release. I think it would have done better had it not been for the DS remake which i still need to pick up.
I think Callisto P is an okay game. One of the better looking PS5 games. Pace may be slow but once you get going the combat is okay with the blend of melee, weapon and Jedi. The purchasable DLC cannot be forgiven though. Clear cash grab.
@solidox I also enjoyed Callisto for what it was: a slightly janky Dead Space clone. It was a breezy 10 hours. I do feel some trepidation for the DLC though, but with backlog and release schedule being what they are who knows if I’ll ever get to it
The gameplay was far from perfect but it looked and sounded amazing. It's quite a skill to actually deliver a decent game. The next one could have build and improved upon it's mechanics. Not sure what his reason is to leave but the reactions here of most are very harsch.
I hope he wasn’t the one who pushed for a melee focused combat as that’s what killed the game for me.
That sounds either suspiciously like a management clearout after they failed to hit investors targets, but let them have their own exit narrative OR they are going to start up a new studio elsewhere.
His wonderful tweet about pushing the team to get the game finished, working 6-7 day weeks (nobody forced them, apparently) resulting in exhaustion, looks even better now.
It's a sad story ultimately. I bought and beat the Callisto Protocol recently and I absolutely loved it. One of my favorie games for certain, so I'm sad things just didn't go well for Striking Distance or Schofield. Hopefully the smallish team at Striking Distance gets an opportunity to make something great again and gets recognition..
Very disapointing. You'd think he would try to continue to build the studios portfolio and learn from past mistakes after callisto. But nope he just gives up. It's like he is looking for shortcuts. All that time he spent developing cods probably dulled his talent.
It’s so upsetting that the games industry has come to a point where one failure can rank a ship. A Callisto Protocol sequel had potential, but corporate just demands it be cut off already.
Removed - trolling/baiting
While Callisto was a 4/10 game with barely any redeeming qualities, I'm always a big believer of the "room for improvement" saying. That being said, Schofield's kind of a punk ass for leaving his studio because of one flop. Also f*** Krafton for their unrealistic expectations
As much as this dissappoints me as someone who actually enjoyed the Callisto Protocol, I can't really say I blame him. I mean, the way the media just panned and sh*t all over his game for no good reason I can't say it's too surprising him wanting to leave. Callisto definitely had its issues don't get me wrong, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as game journos made it out to be. At some point you probably have to wonder if it's personal
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