Speaking about AAA development, Schofield also spoke about the challenges that came with the development of The Callisto Protocol, including things like having to start up a new studio. This, he believes, was a big reason for the budget for The Callisto Protocol being considered as huge as it is.

“They couldn’t believe that we spent $100 million,” explained Schofield. “We had to start everything new. We started a studio in the United States, and all those costs are lumped in there. Then we were PS4, and they go ‘We got to switch to PS5’. I come back a few weeks later with the cost, and they were like: ‘What? You’re just going to PS4 to PS5?’ And I’m like: ‘Are you kidding? You want to do that at no cost?’”

“And then we had to build a publishing company. They did have one, but it had only done PUBG. So, we built one from scratch and put them in Striking Distance. That was a major overhead.”

When it comes to the sales of The Callisto Protocol, Schofield also admitted that he doesn’t have the sales figures himself. Despite this, however, he believes that the game made back the money that was spent on its development.

“From what I heard, the game sold between six and seven million copies,” said Schofield. “It made a lot of money for a first game. I’ve heard those numbers a couple of times. But even if it’s five million, it’s made its money.”

Interestingly, Schofield expressed some regret at releasing The Callisto Protocol when he did. Looking at how the title did in hindsight, he believes that the rush to get the game out in time for Christmas 2022 led to the game’s poorly-optimised state on PC.

“I freaking love making games,” said Schofield. “I don’t like when the politics get in the way, which they did with Krafton. There was no doubt about it. They told me that the game has to ship in December because of the Korean stock market. I should have just shut it down right there. I’m mad of myself on that one. When it came out it was a s*** show on PC. So, we got labelled with that. And we should. I was upset.”

“[Krafton] stopped talking to me on December 10, right after ship. And didn’t talk to me again until next May. During that time, I took the team and we did all our DLC. We did 86 patches. We had a regiment every time we were going to do a patch. 12 of us would get in a room, every department, and if all 12 didn’t raise their hand that it was ready, we didn’t send it out.”

Schofield also spoke about the new project that he was working with alongside his daughter, and how his efforts to get it funded weren’t working out. Before this project, however, he was working on another one – dubbed Hellion – for which he was looking for $100 million in funding.

Neither Hellion nor his daughter’s projects ended up getting funded, and Schofield had spoken about this back in July, noting that he might be done with directing games, at least for the time being.

Krafton said in a press release that it “sought to keep the Unknown Worlds’ co-founders and original creators of the Subnautica series involved in the game’s development,” but now wishes them “well on their next endeavors.” It’s also “confident” about Papoutsis bringing “renewed energy and momentum to delivering the long-anticipated Subnautica 2 experience to fans.”

“There is nothing more important than the gamer experience. Given the anticipation around Subnautica 2, we owe our players nothing less than the best possible game as soon as possible,” said CEO Kim Chang-han. “We are thrilled Steve is joining us in our shared commitment at KRAFTON and Unknown Worlds to deliver Subnautica 2 as a more complete and satisfying entry in the series—one that truly lives up to player expectations.”

“Krafton puts players at the heart of every decision because they deserve the absolute best. We understand how eager our community is to dive into the underwater world of Subnautica 2, and we are working diligently to deliver an experience that meets those expectations—while maintaining our unwavering commitment to quality and player experience. We deeply appreciate the patience and trust of our Subnauts, and we are doing everything possible to ensure the final result is worth the wait.”

Papoutsis added, “I am thrilled to be taking on this new role within the Krafton family and to be working alongside the immensely talented team at Unknown Worlds. Player experience is our North Star, and the team is laser-focused on delivering the best possible game for the Subnautica community. We appreciate Ted, Charlie and Max for their past roles in having built this beloved world, and thank the fans for your devotion and patience.”

Subnautica 2’s early access launch doesn’t have a release date, but it will be available on PC and Xbox Series X/S (via Game Preview). It features a new story and a world “too dangerous” for humans. Yet their ship AI insists they push ahead (and hopefully not in a HAL 9000 way). You still craft tools like the Scanner and Flashlight while discovering other recipes and building bases.

However, the building system has been overhauled to allow more customization. There are also new biomes and aquatic life (including Leviathans) to discover. Also, for the first time in the series, four-player co-op is supported. Stay tuned for more details on Subnautica 2 in the coming months.

In a statement, Krafton has said that the studio had to let go of some of its employees in order to maintain a sustainable environment for development. The company has also stated that no more changes to the studio are currently planned, and ongoing support will continue for its games.

“Striking Distance Studios has reduced the size of its team to remain agile, which creates a sustainable environment for the studio at its current stage of development,” said a Krafton representative. “The studio remains operational, and these changes will not impact any planned ongoing support. No further changes are planned at this time.”

Krafton hasn’t confirmed exactly how many of the developers from Striking Distance Studios have been affected. Reports from LinkedIn, however, indicate that most of the studio’s development staff had been affected by layoffs.

Known primarily for its single-player horror game The Callisto Protocol, Striking Distance Studios has since released a roguelike spin-off, titled [REDACTED]. The game was launched back in October 2024, and has seen a positive response from players.

Shortly after releasing [REDACTED], the studio also updated The Callisto Protocol so that the horror game could make better use of the power of the PS5 Pro, allowing it to run at 4K/60 FPS or 8K/30 FPS with full ray tracing.

While its gameplay might be a bit rough, especially for fans of survival horror games that excel in that department like Resident Evil 4 or Dead Space, The Callisto Protocol is definitely still an impressive game when it comes to its visuals. Along with its lovingly-crafted blood-soaked zones, the game also features excellently-grotesque enemy designs, incredible facial capture, and plenty of ridiculous violence.

Since the release of The Callisto Protocol, Striking Distance Studios got quite a shake-up with co-founder Glen Schofield leaving the studio, and his position as CEO being taken up by Steve Papoutsis.

Currently, Striking Distance Studios is reportedly working on a new AAA title that will be developed using Unreal Engine 5. The studio itself hasn’t confirmed any new titles, however. Speculation has come about thanks to a job listing that was spotted last year, with the studio describing the position as being for “a brand new, unannounced” game.

For more details about The Callisto Protocol, check out our review.

The Callisto Protocol now features two modes on PS5 Pro- a Performance mode that runs at 4K and 60 FPS, and a Quality Mode that runs at 8K and 30 FPS. Both modes also feature full ray tracing, which, on a base PS5, is only available in Quality Mode.

The Callisto Protocol can be a rough experience, to say the very least, and there are certainly far better horror titles out there that are easier to recommend. It does, however, look undeniably impressive, so the prospect of improvements to both graphics and performance on PS5 Pro is an enticing one. If nothing else, players might be tempted to dive back into the game and get a taste of its offerings. 

As a guard who’s woken up on the wrong end of an infestation in Black Iron prison, players must escape. It’s easier said than done, especially with prisoners and other security guards (referred to as Rivals) hampering your progress. Fortunately, you can find weapon schematics to unlock an ever-growing arsenal alongside skills and suits for future runs.

Some interesting twists include sabotaging your Rivals remotely and even fighting your corpse from a previous failed run. If the action and arcade-punk soundtrack (courtesy of Crash Bandicoot and Jak series composer Mutato Muzika) isn’t enough, you can also go for a final runback to receive “powerful permanent gear.” Failure means losing everything, though.

[REDACTED] is out worldwide on October 31st for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Set in Black Iron, players discover weapon schematics and “experiments” to unlock weapons, suits, and skills for each subsequent run. While horrifying creatures await, you must worry about Rivals, other prisoners and security guards seeking to escape. You can deal with them remotely or engage in 1v1 battles.

Of course, you need to deal with the previous run’s corpse, who uses the last loadout while adding some “extra tricks.” Interestingly, you could also ignore the escape pod in the end and go for “one last hardcore do-or-die run back”, which can unlock “powerful permanent gear” if you succeed.

Striking Distance also confirmed that Mutato Muzika, who worked on the Crash Bandicoot and Jak series, is composing the soundtrack. Stay tuned for more details on [REDACTED] shortly.

June 12, meanwhile, MeowNature and Gamera Games’ fan-favourite Call of Cthulhu-inspired tabletop RPG Depersonalization will join Game Pass for subscribers on PC, with BlackMill Games’ World War 1 first-person shooter Isonzo following on June 13 for subscribers on console, cloud, and PC. The following day, on June 13, Striking Distance Studios and Krafton’s survival horror game The Callisto Protocol will join the service on all platforms.

Finally, June 18 will bring the day one Game Pass release of Still Wakes the Deep, The Chinese Room’s first-person narrative-driven horror adventure game, or Xbox Series X/S, PC, and cloud.

Employing a comic book-esque visual style and an overhead perspective akin to titles like Hades, Project Birdseye (which isn’t the final name) started as a “passion project” for a small group at the studio obsessed with “easy-to-pick-up and play but fun to master roguelikes.”

Striking Distance clarified that it isn’t The Callisto Protocol but more of a “side quest” that the team wanted to work on while expanding on the game’s world. It won’t affect the development of its next triple-A title ( which a job ad indicated to be in development on Unreal Engine 5). The early announcement is to “see if the concept clicks with you as much as it has with us.”

Project Birdseye doesn’t have a release window or platforms, so stay tuned for future updates. The Callisto Protocol is available for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. It received mixed reviews at launch due to several performance and design issues – check out our thoughts here. You can also read our review for the DLC, Final Transmission.

Spotted by @shinobi602 on Twitter, the studio has a job listing up for the position of lead gameplay animator, in which it confirms that it’s working on “a brand new, unannounced” game. Not much else can be gleaned about the project from the job listing, though it states that it’s being developed on Unreal Engine 5, and will aim to have “dynamic and engaging player and enemy experiences”.

Striking Distance Studios’ debut project, survival horror title The Callisto Protocol, released in December 2022, but was met with lukewarm reception from critics and audiences alike. The game failed to sell to expectations, following which the studio suffered layoffs.

In September, Striking Distance Studios confirmed that co-founder and CEO Glen Schofield was leaving the company amidst a leadership shake-up. He was replaced by Steve Papoutsis.

Taking to social media platform X, Schofield has said that he has kept quite busy since work on The Callisto Protocol was completed, and that while he has taken some time off, he has been working on something “new and exciting” in games.

“Although I’ve taken some time off, I’ve been extremely busy & not just drawing,” he said in the post. “Something in games that’s new and exciting. Can’t wait to share more after the New Year!”

Schofield last worked on The Callisto Protocol with Striking Distance Studios. The game has seen quite a turbulent launch with a lukewarm critical and commercial response, however, which eventually led to a shake-up of the studio’s staff. Along with reports indicating that over 30 employees were laid off from the studio, Schofield also departed from his role as CEO.

For more details, check out our review of The Callisto Protocol, as well as our review of its final story-based DLC.

Although I’ve taken some time off, I’ve been extremely busy & not just drawing. Something in games that’s new and exciting. Can’t wait to share more after the New Year!

— Glen A. Schofield (@GlenSchofield) December 17, 2023