Following up on the statements he made last year, Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol creator Glen Schofield has announced that he is retiring from game development. Schofield made this announcement in a LinkedIn video, where he also thanked the people with whom he worked over his 35 years in the industry.
“Some of you know me as a video game maker and director, and it’s something I’m so proud of, and I know I’m lucky to be able to do this, but after 35 years of making games and directing them, running teams, it’s time for me to officially retire from the day-to-day work. It’s been such an amazing career, and I have so many people to thank for it, but I can’t possibly do it all here.”
“To my close friends and family, and people who have stood by me, patted me on the back, listened to my crazy ideas, thank you so much,” he continued. “To the fans: you’ve supported me, you let mine and my teams’ games into your homes. You told me when I was good, and you told me when I wasn’t so good. But you made me better. Thank you so much.”
Schofield had last brought up the idea that he would be done directing games in July 2025. His statement at the time came in light of a new project, which he was working on alongside his daughter, facing difficulties in getting funded.
“Over the past eight months, I’ve been quietly working with my daughter, Nicole, on a new game idea,” he wrote. “She came to me with it, and I immediately loved the idea. Something I hadn’t seen before. We’ve been calling it a new sub-genre of horror—not just horror, but something more.”
With a budget of around $17 million to fully develop the project, Schofield was armed with a prototype and a small crew that would potentially help get funding. However, he noted plenty of feedback from investors asking him to first “get it to $10 million” before later offering even lower amounts.
“So last month, we decided to walk away. Some ideas are better left untouched than done cheap,” he explained. “We had a team of six here in the States and a full crew in the UK. Now, everyone’s looking for work. They’re all talented folks—if you’re hiring, let me know.”
“As for me—I’ve worked on games of every size. From 2 of us to over 300 devs Spent the last 15–20 years making big AAA titles with great teams. That’s what I do. That’s what I love. But with the industry on pause, AAA feels like it’s a long way away.”
Glen Schofield started his career in the gaming industry as an artist and art director at Imagineering. He would eventually take up the role of vice president at Crystal Dynamics, heading up development of titles like Gex and Legacy of Kain. Eventually, he moved to EA Redwood Studios (later known as Visceral Games), where he served as general manager and worked on games like 007: From Russia With Love and Dead Space.
