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To “pursue new opportunities”.
Glen Schofield, the co-creator of Dead Space, is departing his Striking Distance Studios following the commercial failure of its first game, sci-fi horror The Callisto Protocol.
Schofield founded Striking Distance Studios in 2019, under the wing of a Korean publisher Krafton Inc., which was looking to create a narrative-based game that would expand its PUBG: Battlegrounds universe – although, notably, all connections to PUBG had been excised by the time The Callisto Protocol launched in December last year.
Unfortunately, The Callisto Protocol’s critical reception was mixed and the game was met with lower-than-anticipated sales. In January, it was reported that Krafton had expected to shift five million copies of The Callisto Protocol – whose three-year development had cost it £132m – but that it was unlikely to hit its target, given just two million copies had been sold at the time.
Development on The Callisto Protocol ended in June with the launch of its concluding DLC chapter, Final Transmission, and just two months later, Striking Distance announced it had laid off 32 employees amid efforts to “realign the studio’s priorities”.
And now Bloomberg reports chief executive officer Schofield is going too, with Krafton telling the publication he had “decided to pursue new opportunities”. Krafton also confirmed Striking Distance’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer will be leaving at the same time, insisting all three departures were voluntary.
Schofield – whose role will be filled by chief development officer Steve Papoutsis – described his departure as “bittersweet”, adding “but I know the studio is in excellent hands.”
