Glen Schofield had some interesting things to say about whether The Callisto Protocol is a AAA game or an indie game in a new interview.
For those who don’t know, the upcoming action shooter horror game is being developed by Striking Distance Studios, and published by Krafton. But the truth is, a lot of people don’t know much about either company.
First, about Krafton. The name may seem misleading but it’s actually a Korean video game holding company, based in Seongnam, and founded only three years ago. While it has a few games to its name, the only one you need to know about is PUBG, which elevated it to among the biggest and most powerful game companies in the world. Krafton has acquired several game studios through the years, including Unknown Worlds, after the developer made a hit with Subnautica.
Krafton helped found Striking Distance Studios with Glen Schofield, after Glen decided to leave the world of Call of Duty development and the other studio he founded, Sledgehammer Games. In the same way we can take for granted how Korea-based PUBG Studio is one of the elite developers today, competing with Epic for Fortnite and Blizzard for Overwatch, Striking Distance Studios isn’t a famous name yet, but one that the industry and fans should take seriously.
Glen was asked point blank if Striking Distance Studios is even a AAA studio at all. Glen pointed out 35 people from Sledgehammer Games joined him to found Striking Distance Studios, upon learning Glen was going back into his Dead Space roots to make another horror shooter.
Glen revealed that Krafton gave him full creative control on this project, but even they may not have realized what they were able to set up. Striking Distance Studios is now a 200 person team, ending any questions as to whether this should even be considered an indie at all.
Glen further gives clarification when asked about how all The Callisto Protocol previews we have seen so far has had the look and gamefeel of a AAA project:
“Yeah, yeah. It really depends… you need a studio that knows how to make the most out of its [resources]. My first degree is in art. So we know how to go get artists, go get the best and to hire an artist for 30 years. And so being around that long, we just all have contacts. We know who the best audio guys are and you know and just try to win them over with the project.”
The Callisto Protocol will be releasing on December 2, 2022, on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Glen affirmed that combat was a huge focus for the game in this interview. You can read more about the combat design here, and learn more about how grisly the game can get here.
Source: Metro UK
