The former head of development for The Callisto Protocol, Glen Schofield, spoke about the reasons for the horror's failure. According to him, the publisher, represented by Krafton, demanded that the development be accelerated, and the team did not have enough time to finish the game.
The developer and creator of Dead Space voiced this opinion in an interview with the YouTube channel Dan Allen Gaming. Initially, Krafton gave Striking Distance Studios carte blanche to do everything it wanted to implement in its new game. The publisher was even ready to allocate more time for its creation, but in 2021, it abruptly changed its mind and demanded that the project be ready by December 2022.
Glen Schofield himself insisted that the game needed at least three and a half months to finish it. The reduction in deadlines cost the studio an additional budget, since it had to attract more employees.
As a result, The Callisto Protocol did not include four bosses and two enemy types, which remained «on the cutting room floor.» At release, the project was notable for its poor optimization and dozens of other problems, which we talked about in our review. Glen Schofield himself soon left Striking Distance Studios.
By the way, the studio is currently working on a new game codenamed Project Birdseye.