Back in June, Striking Distance Studios released the final piece of DLC its first game, The Callisto Protocol. Now, with work on that game all wrapped up, the studio is downsizing, laying off a number of employees. 

A number of employees began confirming the layoffs in various LinkedIn posts, as reported by VGC and Insider Gaming. Around six staff members have confirmed layoffs so far, but exactly how much of the studio has been impacted remains unclear.

The Callisto Protocol was Striking Distance Studios' first major game, led by Glen Schofield, who previously created the Dead Space IP at Visceral Games. The game was said to be a spiritual successor to Dead Space but it didn't quite live up to fan expectations.

Studios regularly shed talent between major projects, choosing to save money by shrinking down to a small pre-production team, before scaling back up to full production strength once the groundwork is in place for the next project. We are seeing a similar situation take place at CD Projekt Red, where roughly 10 percent of staff is expected to be let go this year as the studio juggles multiple projects in pre-production.

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KitGuru Says: I do think the industry should make more of an effort to retain talent and keep teams together. Unfortunately for now, AAA game development seems to be stuck in this vicious cycle. 

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