Striking Distance Studios were forced to launch The Callisto Protocol early

Released in late 2022, The Callisto Protocol was a spiritual successor to the much-loved Dead Space series – hailing from the creator of the original survival horror trilogy, Glen Schofield. Unfortunately, The Callisto Protocol failed to live up to expectations upon its release. According to Schofield however, this was due to higher-ups forcing an early launch.

In an interview conducted by Dan Allen Gaming (and transcribed by PCGamesN), Schofield sat down to “[spill] all on The Callisito Protocol and the pressures of Covid & Development, Creating Dead Space and Directing 3 Call of Duty Games.”

As part of this interview, the ex-Striking Distance Studios founder/CEO revealed that the ill-fated ‘The Callisto Protocol’ was forced out the door earlier than planned, saying:

“I really liked working with [publisher Krafton] 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 continued, “I wanted about three and a half more months. 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.’”

This of course led to a great number of issues, with Schofield explaining “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.”

Unfortunately, this rush led to a number of planned ideas being cut, including four bosses and two enemy types. While The Callisto Protocol hit in all the right ways for some, the general sentiment surrounding the game was of mild disappointment. It seems the fault may not have been due to Striking Distance Studios nor Schofield, but instead – as usual – publisher interference. The full interview can be found HERE.

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KitGuru says: What did you think of The Callisto Protocol? Were you hoping for a sequel? Could the game have been more successful if they had more time to work on it? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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