UPDATE: In a statement provided to GamingBolt, Striking Distance Studios parent company Krafton has said, “There is no better person than Steve [Papoutsis, new CEO] to guide Striking Distance Studios through this transition. His long professional collaboration with Glen [Schofield, departing CEO] extends all the way back to when they first worked together at Crystal Dynamics in the late ’90s before reuniting at Visceral Games.
“Glen’s contributions during his time at Krafton have been invaluable. He built an ace team of talents at Striking Distance Studios and set a high standard for the work they did together every day. We’re confident in the team’s continued success because of the significant impact Glen has had, and for that we owe him our deepest gratitude.”
Schofield added in a statement regarding his departure, “Creating Striking Distance Studios has been an incredible journey and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved with The Callisto Protocol, a game close to my heart. While pursuing a new adventure is exciting, leaving Striking Distance Studios is bittersweet, but I know the studio is in excellent hands. Steve and I go way back to working at Visceral Games. I saw how successful he was in taking the reins after my departure then and how he continued the studio’s success and growth. That’s how I know he’s the one to lead the studio into its next chapter.”
“We have been carefully planning for the transition to ensure a smooth handover and uninterrupted operations. Striking Distance Studios is committed to supporting its incredibly talented team. Our staff remains a top priority during this transition as they’re the backbone of our success. The studio’s plans remain unaffected, and its focus is to continue producing exceptional content.”
Original story follows:
It’s been a turbulent time for The Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance Studios, and it looks like that’s set to continue. The horror title launched last December to lukewarm reception from critics and audiences, following which it failed to achieve sales targets, while last month, it was reported that the studio had laid off over 30 employees.
Now, as per a Bloomberg report, Striking Distance Studios is also seeing some management shake-ups, which will see the departure of some key figures. Co-founder and CEO Glen Schofield – who previously created and directed Dead Space at Visceral Games, before co-founding Call of Duty studio Sledgehammer Games – is leaving the company, and he will be joined by the studio’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Meanwhile, the current chief development officer, Steve Papoutsis, will be taking over as CEO.
Striking Distance Studios parent company Krafton has confirmed in a statement that Schofield has “decided to pursue new opportunities”, while Schofield, calling his departure “bittersweet”, has assured that the studio is “in excellent hands”. As per Krafton, all three aforementioned departures are voluntary. while the company also says the studio’s plans “remain unaffected”.
In our review of The Callisto Protocol, we gave it a score of 6/10, saying, “The Callisto Protocol looks stunning and can offer small doses of fun, but from misguided gameplay choices and hyper-linear design to ineffectual attempts at horror and a bland story, it stumbles and disappoints in too many ways to be labelled as anything but a disappointment.” Read the full review through here.
