All the ingredients were there. Directed by the creator of Dead Space, inspired, partly, by the Resident Evil remakes, and boasting a novel combat system, The Callisto Protocol also had great visuals and supremely atmospheric setting. But when it launched in 2022, the reception, though mostly warm, was less than the explosive fanfare which we all perhaps expected. I think, in time, The Callisto Protocol will earn a reputation as an underappreciated gem – the first half of Striking Distance’s horror game is especially effective. But now director Glen Schofield, whose credits also include Call of Duty, details problems with The Callisto Protocol’s publisher, Krafton, and the content that had to be cut.
It’s the earliest stages of The Callisto Protocol that really stand out, those clenched-jaw moments when it’s just you, a lead pipe, and the smart close-quarters-combat mechanics. The goopy ‘Necrophage’ make for grimly gratifying whacking bags and there’s a serious tension in trying to dodge their tentacles while landing blows of your own. A horror game that works best at its most restrained, Nat’s The Callisto Protocol review explains precisely why this one deserves your attention.
Nevertheless, after the release of The Callisto Protocol’s DLC, Striking Distance laid off 32 employees. Now, Glen Schofield discusses the game’s production, explaining how Striking Distance originally signed with PUBG publisher Krafton and how the relationship changed.
“I was looking at a few different places and then a friend of mine called me and said ‘the PUBG guys want to talk to you,’” Schofield explains in a new interview with Dan Allen Gaming. I really enjoyed talking with them. We hit it off really quickly. And a lot of the right things were said at the time.
“Four years later, you know, not all the same things are always said – by me as well probably. I really liked working with them for the first couple of years. It was really the last year or so. We went public and it put an awful strain on the company, on the board of directors, and everyone else. And then they [Krafton] put the strain on us probably.”
Schofield claims that Striking Distance was originally given the freedom to make and expand The Callisto Protocol in whatever way they liked, but that Krafton later insisted that the game had to ship in December of 2022. The director, who also created the Dead Space series, says this affected development.
“I wanted about three and a half more months,” Schofield says. “I was led to believe that that was the way it was going to be. In October or September ‘21, I was told ‘You’re going to get the time. Put whatever you want into the game.’ So I spent that Christmas holiday just designing and coming up with ideas with some of the guys. And then January comes around and some of the [Krafton] folks come over and they just said ‘no no no. It’s December 2022.’
“It’s not like it costs you less money because you’re getting it out three months sooner, because if I’d just kept it on the way it was going, I wouldn’t have to add anybody. But if you want it done, that means I’ve got to accelerate everything by three and a half months, which means I need to jam people on here.”
Schofield also explains that production at Striking Distance was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as a mass resignation.
“You have a studio of 200 people,” he continues. “Ten to 20 people a month were getting sick, and they were getting sick for weeks. We were devastated. Sometimes our whole department for VFX would be out, our whole animation department. And then on top of that, in ‘21, we had the great resignation. 49 people quit, because everybody’s paying through the roof, and so people are leaving for $10,000 more. ‘21 was the worst year of development of my life.”
Schofield says that four bosses and two enemy types were cut from The Callisto Protocol. He also explains his own idea for a sequel, wherein lead character Jacob Lee, played by Josh Duhamel, would return halfway through – the hypothetical The Callisto Protocol 2 would begin with a new player character who would be killed at the midpoint, paving the way for a surprise return of the original game’s hero.
Asked if he would have done anything differently during production of The Callisto Protocol, Schofield says he would have been firmer about the release date. “I would have put my foot down,” the director explains. “‘I’m not shipping it. ‘If you want the game to ship, you come and take over the studio.’”
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