Dead Space vet leaves studio he founded after The Callisto Protocol flops

Three executives are leaving The Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance Studios following the game's commercial underperformance, including studio co-founder and Dead Space veteran Glen Schofield.

Bloomberg reports that Schofield, formerly Striking Distance's CEO, is leaving alongside the studio's COO and CFOs. A representative of Striking Distance parent company Krafton tells the outlet that all three departures are voluntary, and that Schofield has "decided to pursue new opportunities." Schofield himself described his departure as "bittersweet, but I know the studio is in excellent hands."

Schofield will be replaced in the CEO position by chief development officer Steve Papoutsis. Papoutsis is himself a veteran of the Dead Space series, serving as a producer for the main series and its many spin-offs at EA.

The Callisto Protocol launched in late 2022 to mixed reviews, with criticisms pointed at its overly challenging combat and poor performance, particularly on PC. In our own Callisto Protocol review, we called it "an impressive game derailed by unforgiving combat," giving a score of three out of five. Earlier this year, reports began to emerge that the game had only sold two million copies, well short of Krafton's expectations of five million sales.

The Callisto Protocol was a spiritual successor to Dead Space, which Schofield took a leading role in the development of. Schofield was the subject of some criticism for publicly taking pride in working long hours on Callisto Protocol, even as the industry had begun to push back against crunch culture. He later apologized for the comments.

While Callisto Protocol garnered a mixed response, the Dead Space remake which launched just a month later was broadly beloved. In our Dead Space remake review, we gave it four-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "a sublime mix of fresh, familiar, and freaking terrifying."

Striking Distance laid off 32 devs just last month.