The Callisto Protocol Boss Says Game Was Pushed to Release Early Resulting in Cut Content
Glen Schofield has laid out several reasons for the game's struggles.
When The Callisto Protocol released in 2022, the final product wasn't quite what anyone was hoping for. There was a lot of anticipation surrounding the horror game, based largely on the involvement of Glen Schofield. Schofield was the creator of Dead Space, and fans viewed The Callisto Protocol as a spiritual successor to the series. Unfortunately, The Callisto Protocol proved to be both a critical and commercial disappointment. In an appearance on the Dan Allen podcast, Schofield went into detail about the game's struggles, revealing that publisher Krafton pushed him to publish it earlier than previously expected.
"I wanted about three and a half more months," said Schofield. "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.' 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, that bumped up release date apparently resulted in a bunch of content being dropped. Schofield goes on to note that two different enemy types ended up on the cutting room floor, as well as four boss fights. That's a considerable amount of content to lose, but it makes sense if Schofield was under the impression that the team at Striking Distance Studios had more time.
In that same interview, Schofield says that the relationship between Krafton and Striking Distance Studio started out fine, but there were several difficulties during the development process. The coronavirus pandemic was one major problem for the studio, as it was for countless other video game developers around that same time. Schofield estimates that "10-20 people a month were getting sick, and they were getting sick for weeks." The team also saw 49 people quit in 2021, out of a studio of 200 people.
At the end of the day, it's impossible to say if any of the cut content would have resulted in a better finished product, or if The Callisto Protocol would have been better had Striking Distance Studios not run into so many problems during development. Hopefully Schofield's next project won't run into nearly as many issues! For those that haven't tried The Callisto Protocol yet, the game was recently added to Xbox Game Pass.
Did you play The Callisto Protocol? Were you disappointed with the game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
[H/T: PC Games N]
