Sources claim that as many as 20 developers who worked on The Callisto Protocol are not receiving due credit for their efforts. While The Callisto Protocol is jump-scaring fans all over the world with its myriad death scenes, these workers are just trying to let people know that they were a part of making that gruesome horror a reality.
The Callisto Protocol arrived on December 2, 2022, in the wake of its massive marketing campaign and considerable hype among fans of the Dead Space franchise, who were anxious to play an all-new horror IP from the acclaimed mind of Game Director Glen Schofield. For some, The Callisto Protocol was the next great horror game that they hoped it to be. For others, however, the game did not live up to expectations. Leading criticisms surrounding The Callisto Protocol include its linearity, cumbersome combat system, and shockingly abrupt cliffhanger ending.
Despite The Callisto Protocol's shortcomings, its production required the devoted, passionate work of a large team of developers, some of whom are currently fighting to get their name in the game's end-credit roll. Reportedly, up to 20 ex-employees of Striking Distance Studios have had their names omitted as punishment for seeking employment elsewhere before production on The Callisto Protocol finished. "Somebody wanted to send a message, and the message was: Next time have a bit more loyalty to us," an unnamed source told GamesIndustry.biz of Striking Distance's stance on doling credit.
This incident comes several months after Game Director Glen Schofield found himself in hot water over a tweet that seemingly celebrated crunch culture. While he later recanted and apologized for the tweet, an ensuing report uncovered that the studio had gone through bouts of crunch leading up to the release of The Callisto Protocol. It is unclear whether being overworked was a determining factor for any of the spurned developers who had their names stricken from the credits leaving Striking Distance, but the two stories paint an unpleasant picture of working conditions at the studio.
Hopefully, if these allegations are true, the developers' names will be patched into The Callisto Protocol's credits sometime in the future. With all the recent momentum surrounding unionization in the games industry, as well as the International Game Developers Association's stated intentions to standardize developer accreditation, stories like these will likely become less and less frequent, as game studios are held more accountable and taken to task for unethical treatment of its employees.
The Callisto Protocol is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Games Industry
