Dead Space Creator Says He May Have Directed His Last Game After Callisto Protocol Flop — 'Tough Out There' for AAA Development

Glen Schofield, who co-created Dead Space, co-founded Sledgehammer Games, and astir precocious directed The Callisto Protocol, said "it's pugnacious retired there" successful the games industry, and admitted helium had perchance "directed my past game" aft failing to unafraid fiscal enactment for his latest prototype.

In a candid station connected LinkedIn, Schofield said he'd been moving with his "great artist" daughter, Nicole, who went to him with an thought for a caller fearfulness crippled — possibly adjacent a caller fearfulness sub-genre, though helium didn't specify what — and had been moving connected the thought for the past 8 months.

Alongside a "small, talented crew" of six U.S. devs and a "full crew" successful the UK, Schofield said helium started talking to people, astir of whom "loved the concept." Initially surmising he'd request astir $17 million, the manager was advised to little the fund to "get it to $10 million," earlier being told to further streamline the task to travel successful astatine astir "$2-5 million."

"So past month, we decided to locomotion away. Some ideas are amended near untouched than done cheap," Schofield wrote. "We had a squad of six present successful the States and a afloat unit successful the UK. Now, everyone’s looking for work. They’re each talented folks — if you’re hiring, fto maine know.

"As for maine — I’ve worked connected games of each size. From 2 of america to implicit 300 devs. Spent the past 15–20 years making large AAA titles with large teams. That’s what I do. That’s what I love. But with the manufacture connected pause, AAA feels similar it’s a agelong ways away."

Schofield says he's "back to [his] art," but admits helium misses AAA development.

"I miss it all; the team, the chaos, the joyousness of gathering thing for fans. I’m inactive around, making art, penning stories and ideas, and inactive cheering the manufacture on. But possibly I’ve directed my past game. Who knows? If so, convey you [for] playing my games."

Striking Distance was founded implicit six years agone by Schofield. The workplace is simply a subsidiary of Krafton, the genitor institution that owns the rights to the wide fashionable conflict royale crippled PUBG. The workplace was initially formed to make a narrative-driven crippled acceptable successful the PUBG universe, but yet released The Callisto Protocol, a third-person endurance fearfulness abstracted from PUBG that released successful December 2022.

Callisto Protocol was met with mixed reviews and plagued with problems, from show issues to reports of workplace crunch and issues with crediting radical who contributed to the development. Roughly a period aft release, it was reported that the crippled failed to conscionable Krafton's income expectations, and Schofield yet near the institution successful September 2023.

We thought The Callisto Protocol was 'Good,' awarding it a 7/10 successful our review, writing: "The Callisto Protocol is simply a satisfyingly gory spiritual successor to the Dead Space series, but it’s yet much of a striking modern mimic than a scary caller mutation."

Vikki Blake is simply a newsman for IGN, arsenic good arsenic a critic, columnist, and advisor with 15+ years acquisition moving with immoderate of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's besides a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her astatine BlueSky.