Support NeoGAF

[Bartski]

Patrick Bostwick on LinkedIn: #gamedev #gamedevjobs #aaa #gaming

Im so sorry to see the layoffs at Striking Distance Studios. It took many years to assemble such amazing talents. Without a doubt this group of people are some…

www.linkedin.com

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/patr...evjobs-aaa-activity-7091872045738700802-NIfR/

The Callisto Protocol Developer Hit With Layoffs - Insider Gaming

More layoffs have hit the gaming industry as The Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance Studios have laid off multiple employees

insider-gaming.com

“I’m so sorry to see the layoffs at Striking Distance Studios,” Patrick Bostwick of Pixelated Talent and formerly of Striking Distance Studios said. “It took many years to assemble such amazing talents. Without a doubt, this group of people are some of the most talented in the industry.”
“I was impacted by the layoffs at Striking Distance Studios today and am looking for a new opportunity as a Senior Environment Artist/ World Builder,” senior environment artist Matthew Smith posted.
As far as the scale of the layoffs are concerned, that information isn’t currently known. The studio also has yet to publicly comment on the layoffs.

The Callisto Protocol was released back in December 2022. The game was met with mixed reviews from both critics and players. Though it did sell over 2 million copies, it didn’t reach its initial sales target of 5 million against a $162 million development budget.

update:

The Callisto Protocol Developer Striking Distance Suffers Over 30 Layoffs

The layoffs come shortly after the launch of the game's story DLC.

www.gameinformer.com

 

[Vox Machina]

Like Jim Ryan said, the AAA(A) model of $150M+ single-player one-and-done's is unsustainable unless subsidized by GaaS or platform-owner revenue splits.

 

[Skifi28]

Over 2 million sales doesn't sound that bad, AAA games seem to have reached a 10 million or bust point unfortunately.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Asking the first new IP/game from a newly founded studio to sell 5+ million copies seems like a very unrealistic goal to me.

 

[Umbasaborne]

Not sure what they expected. Cool they made something so big budget, but maybe they should have started smaller, proved themselves, and built up a fan base first

 

[FoxMcChief]

Asking the first new IP/game from a newly founded studio to sell 5+ million copies seems like a very unrealistic goal to me.

Money men only care about results. A new IP should sell as well as CoD or a Sony exclusive.

 

[adamsapple]

Not gonna root for anyone losing jobs, but the game was a very heavily marketed dud, so it's not exactly surprising.

 

[Punished Miku]

Gotta hurt to have many of your sales eaten by a remake of something you made previously. Perfectly summarizes the taste of mainstream consumers.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I like what I've played so far. I plan to finish Callisto Protocol after I'm done with FFXVI.

 

[Skifi28]

Asking the first new IP/game from a newly founded studio to sell 5+ million copies seems like a very unrealistic goal to me.

And most of the marketing was "from the creators of dead space". Pretty sure dead space never sold 5 million in a few months, there was no way this was going to sell this much even if it was perfect. That's resident evil and final fantasy sales.

 

[poppabk]

Not sure what they expected. Cool they made something so big budget, but maybe they should have started smaller, proved themselves, and built up a fan base first

Half the people on this board would consider any lower budget game indie trash and not give it a second look. They tried to put themselves on the map but fell short sadly, the dead space remake can't have helped their cause.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Reminds me of the Evil Within not being the huge success Bethesda wanted it to be. It was marketed heavily as THE game from the "Father of survival horror", Shinji Mikami, and even though it sold well for a new IP it didn't reach Resident Evil by a long shot.

And the same goes for Glen Schofield. Dude comes out of the gate with a bonafide smash hit in Dead Space, who goes on to be a successful franchise. He decides to leave Visceral and Sledgehammer only to resurface with a newly formed studio in Striking Distance (much like Mikami with Tango Game works), drops a AAA spiritual successor to his previous game (like Mikami with TEW), marketing it as the game from the creator of Dead Space (like Mikami) and then fails (also like Mikami).

It's even more ironic given how Schofield was a huge fan of Mikami and RE4, and cited them both as big inspirations for Dead Space. Maybe they should collaborate together. That shit would probably be twice the success or twice the failure.

Jokes aside, it sucks that a new IP from such a highly regarded game designer fails like this, to the point of layoffs. The Callisto Protocol had all the signs being a smash hit, but missed the mark entirely. It's a sad story.

 

[Anime-Vix]

I think people need to remember this was their first game as a studio, An AAA game on top of that. I think they did well. I felt reviewers and gamers judged
this game very harshly. This game was not Redfall. It was a solid game and the patches addressed the issues a lot of the community had with the game. I really do hope that
they are given another chance at making another game.

I remember when I played the first Infamous game. I thought it was horrible but the Sequel literally fixed and improved upon everything that was wrong in the 1st.
Now Suckerpunch is an Amazing AAA developer. Game studios need to be nurtured and not neutered at the first wrong they do.

 

[acm2000]

never looked anything special, will play it if it ends up on game pass but otherwise ive never had much interest.

5m for a new ip from a new studio is highly unrealistic and their budget stupidly inappropriate.

 

[Xtib81]

Shame but the game severely underperformed so that's not surprising.

 

[Skifi28]

Shame but the game severely underperformed so that's not surprising.

If you set the bar high enough, all games can underperform.

 

[YuLY]

I'm not sure who told this studio that having a SF survival horror focused on melee combat is a good idea, but they missed their mark. People wanted cool laser and plasma weapons to break the limbs of enemies in cool ways. I'm also not sure were those 150+ mil went, considering this is a 7h literally corridor style game where 25% of the time you crawl through vents.

If they had all that budget and this is the best they could produce, maybe its best that they stop.

Atomic Heart studio probably had 10 times less budget than they did and produced a much better game.

 

[Elder Legend]

This game had a budget of a 162 million? Jesus christ.

 

[DeepEnigma]

This game had a budget of a 162 million? Jesus christ.

I'm sure a good chunk went to the Hollywood actors.

 

[rofif]

Like Jim Ryan said, the AAA(A) model of $150M+ single-player one-and-done's is unsustainable unless subsidized by GaaS or platform-owner revenue splits.

Just make good games

 

[Patrick S.]

Reminds me of the Evil Within not being the huge success Bethesda wanted it to be. It was marketed heavily as THE game from the "Father of survival horror", Shinji Mikami, and even though it sold well for a new IP it didn't reach Resident Evil by a long shot.

And the same goes for Glen Schofield. Dude comes out of the gate with a bonafide smash hit in Dead Space, who goes on to be a successful franchise. He decides to leave Visceral and Sledgehammer only to resurface with a newly formed studio in Striking Distance (much like Mikami with Tango Game works), drops a AAA spiritual successor to his previous game (like Mikami with TEW), marketing it as the game from the creator of Dead Space (like Mikami) and then fails (also like Mikami).

It's even more ironic given how Schofield was a huge fan of Mikami and RE4, and cited them both as big inspirations for Dead Space. Maybe they should collaborate together. That shit would probably be twice the success or twice the failure.

Jokes aside, it sucks that a new IP from such a highly regarded game designer fails like this, to the point of layoffs. The Callisto Protocol had all the signs being a smash hit, but missed the mark entirely. It's a sad story.

The Evil Within was a failure? I remember it getting very very good reviews. And it got a sequel that was praised for shaking up the formula of the first title, too.

 

[akaFullmetal]

Duds happen even for good games. Being a new dev they should of started with a more modest budget

 

[MiguelItUp]

Yeah, actually modeling actors and actresses into the game wasn't cheap at all. So, it's a shame as there's definitely things they could've done to drop the game's development budget, it had no right being that expensive. Nor should they have set selling expectations so high.

 

[Beer Baelly]

 

[Jibran#one]

162 million ? Wtf

 

[Vox Machina]

Just make good games

Not enough, according to industry execs.

 

[Mr Hyde]

The Evil Within was a failure? I remember it getting very very good reviews. And it got a sequel that was praised for shaking up the formula of the first title, too.

The Evil Within sold pretty decent, probably 3-5 million iirc, but I remember Bethesda stating that it didn't live up to expectations given the pedigree of the director (they probably had unrealistic expectations and thought Mikami = 10 million units sold. Publishers are stupid). The reviews and reception were mixed to positive, probably skewing towards positive. I do remember a lot of people being disappointed that it wasn't Resident Evil

Bethesda and Mikami probably thought TEW had decent momentum when they greenlit the sequel, but it bombed so hard I don't think a third one will ever be on the table, making me think that most people who bought and played the first one didn't like it. Personally I loved Evil Within and the sequel, so seeing it fail like it did is very painful.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Callisto also failed at the most basic levels. It's more...holy shit, why is a game with this many resources this amateurish?

Play the DS Remake, which is made from the ground up, and feel the difference at every turn. Schofield was high on his own supply. Callisto is the gaming equivalent of those New Hollywood late 70s vanity projects. Tons of money, tons of talent, dumb ideas and mismanagement from the director.

I feel sorry for the staff that Schofield gleefully crunched the shit out of.

 

[Fbh]

Maybe next time focus less on graphics and celebrities and more on engaging gameplay that doesn't feel like a step back from the 15 years old game you are trying to replicate

 

[Pop]

Gaming companies need to get their budgets in order

These budgets are hugely inflated

 

[winjer]

Next time, they should try to make a good game, instead of an expensive tech demo.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Maybe next time focus less on graphics and celebrities and more on engaging gameplay that doesn't feel like a step back from the 15 years old game you are trying to replicate

It legit feels like a bargain bin knock-off from a AA dev time traveled into my PS5. A baffling game. It's like Dante's Inferno only that Dante's Inferno doesn't fail at basic combat for example.

 

[sodstall]

I always thought the pivot away from being "connected" to the PUBG-a-verse was the first warning for this game. Will forever wonder what a PUBG/BR game maneuvering as heavy as this game would be like.

 

[Patrick S.]

The Evil Within sold pretty decent, probably 3-5 million iirc, but I remember Bethesda stating that it didn't live up to expectations given the pedigree of the director (they probably had unrealistic expectations and thought Mikami = 10 million units sold. Publishers are stupid). The reviews and reception were mixed to positive, probably skewing towards positive. I do remember a lot of people being disappointed that it wasn't Resident Evil

Bethesda and Mikami probably thought TEW had decent momentum when they greenlit the sequel, but it bombed so hard I don't think a third one will ever be on the table, making me think that i most people who bought and played the first one didn't like it. Personally I loved Evil Within and the sequel, so seeing it fail like it did is very painful.

Yeah, true. Shame how these games that try to do something different keep getting axed because they don't sell a bazillion copies

 

[Thief1987]

The Evil Within was a failure? I remember it getting very very good reviews. And it got a sequel that was praised for shaking up the formula of the first title, too.

You remember wrong

The Evil Within Reviews

The Evil Within is Shinji Mikami's mixed result of a return to the survival horror genre. On the one hand it faithfully recreates the feel of older entries to the genre, but it does nothing...

opencritic.com

 

[TheDuskwalker]

Dead Space 2 sold 4 million on supposedly a budget of 60 million according to former Visceral devs. What was the thought process it would automatically sale more than Dead Space 2, so a budget of more than double that was a good idea?

 

[GrayChild]

I don't think the game would have reached the initial sales target, even IF they managed to pull off 5 million in a month.

Capcom learned this the hard way with RE6 - survival horror will never be as huge as the most popular AAA mass-market franchises. Yet it doesn't need to be. The budget thrown at this game was just unrealistically high. FFS, TLOU2 cost 220 million, and that was one of the most expensive AAA games ever.

 

[Skyfox]

Terrific game

 

[TGO]

It was a great new IP and did good imo
2 Mill in 3 weeks isn't bad for a new studio and new IP, but it seems everyone was quick to confirm it's failure.
I doubt that's it's Life time sales as it seem to sell on par with Dead Space on Amazon if their "600+ sold in the past month" is to be believed
This does make me a bit sad and I hope the team picks themselves up and comes back with something.
If anyone is still interested it only £15.95 at the moment on Amazon

The Callisto Protocol Standard Edition - PS5 : Amazon.co.uk: PC & Video Games

Buy The Callisto Protocol Standard Edition - PS5 from Amazon.co.uk. Everyday low prices on a huge range of consoles, games and accessories.

amzn.eu

 

[Patrick S.]

You remember wrong

The Evil Within Reviews

The Evil Within is Shinji Mikami's mixed result of a return to the survival horror genre. On the one hand it faithfully recreates the feel of older entries to the genre, but it does nothing...

opencritic.com

Oh, ok. I do remember for certain that all my friends who are into horror games like both TEW games, but yeah, anecdotal I guess.

 

[R6Rider]

Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the game.

Also, this song slaps:

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Good game and despite the hard to swallow DLC ending for some people I'm hopeful for this IPs future. Karen Fukuhara as the second games protagonist would be welcomed and probably sell even better since The Boys is  HOT.

 

[Badlucktroll]

man callisto protocol sucked i had to force myself to finish it after dropping it for a few weeks

 

[violence]

I enjoyed it. The sequel would’ve been even better. Oh well. I guess companies need to be even more risk averse.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Just make good games

Or be fortunate enough to publish your mediocre game under the Square label.

 

[R6Rider]

Or be fortunate enough to publish your mediocre game under the Square label.

Hey, don't talk about FF16 like that.

 

[Drizzlehell]

What a ridiculous budget to allocate for a game like this. Horror games were never huge enough to be able to reach such high sales numbers so I don't know what they were thinking by spending so much money on the production, not to mention marketing costs.

 

[Elder Legend]

Dead Space 2 sold 4 million on supposedly a budget of 60 million according to former Visceral devs. What was the thought process it would automatically sale more than Dead Space 2, so a budget of more than double that was a good idea?

Technology was cheaper though...and tech was not as advanced. Dead Space from 2008 doesn't look anywhere near the visual and animation fidelity that is of Callisto Protocol. Silly comparison that makes no logical sense.

In video game development the art assets are the most expensive thing alongside programming. Programmers get paid more than artists, but more artists are needed than programmers due to the sheer volume of art assets that are needed so the art assets overtake programming on the costing budget.

 

[violence]

Technology was cheaper though...and tech was not as advanced. Dead Space from 2008 doesn't look anywhere near the visual and animation fidelity that is of Callisto Protocol. Silly comparison that makes no logical sense.

In video game development the art assets are the most expensive thing alongside programming. Programmers get paid more than artists, but more artists are needed than programmers due to the sheer volume of art assets that are needed so the art assets overtake programming on the costing budget.

Come to think of it. The dead space remake didn’t look as good as Callisto protocol. And that was a current gen exclusive.

 

[GHG]

Like Jim Ryan said, the AAA(A) model of $150M+ single-player one-and-done's is unsustainable unless subsidized by GaaS or platform-owner revenue splits.

When did Jim Ryan say this?