Striking Distance Studios and parent company Krafton have confirmed that 32 employees have been let go from the developer. In a statement shared with and published by GamesRadar, Striking Distance confirmed they had “implemented strategic changes that realign the studio’s priorities to better position its current and future projects for success. Unfortunately, these changes have impacted 32 employees.”
In their message, the studios added that they had honoured “the invaluable contributions of each departing team member with material support in the form of outplacement services and meaningful severance packages is our top priority during this difficult moment.”
Despite the lay-offs, Striking Distance are currently advertising for a variety of engineering positions within the company via the careers page on their website.
The Callisto Protocol, since it launched in December 2022, and The Final Transmission DLC, received a lukewarm reception shortly before the arrival of the recent Dead Space remake, suffered in sales while Glen Schofield, the CEO behind Striking Distance, appeared to glorify the crunch culture in video game development in a previous, but now-deleted tweet.
Schofield, who’d served as a co-founder with Sledgehammer Games prior to his appointment with SDS, later apologised in a follow-up message to followers, affirming that the studio valued “passion and creativity, not long hours.”
The Callisto Protocol is available on Playstation 4, 5, Xbox One, Series X and S, and PC. In GameLuster’s review, The Callisto Protocol offered a “rich atmosphere” and “stunning visuals” despite failing to “offer anything new to the survival horror genre.”
GameLuster will update this story as it develops.
