The Callisto Protocol Creator Blames Krafton for Troubled Game Release

According to Glen Schofield, the studio literally lacked three months to bring the game to perfection.

Glen Schofield revealed that publisher Krafton forced Striking Distance studio to release The Callisto Protocol earlier than planned. According to the developer, the team was promised an additional three months for production, but this promise was never fulfilled. The COVID-19 pandemic also complicated the situation.

Schofield noted that every month four to six employees in his company fell ill. In some cases, the work of a small team in Spain completely stopped, and the absence of rendering specialists seriously complicated the production process.

According to Schofield, during that period, employee health became more important than development. The studio had to restructure workflows, conduct individual calls and general Zoom meetings, while simultaneously mastering new ways of organizing production.

A separate problem, according to the developer, was the publisher's requirement to simultaneously release The Callisto Protocol on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. Preparing versions for both consoles, Schofield claims, cost the company an additional approximately 20 million dollars.

All this happened against the backdrop of a global semiconductor shortage, which complicated the production and supply of electronics. Additional costs and organizational difficulties further exacerbated the situation around the project.