Striking Distance Studios has confirmed that its Final Transmission DLC for The Callisto Protocol will be temporarily exclusive to PlayStation platforms. The survival horror game is scheduled to launch its last story DLC at the end of June, but it will initially not be available for everyone. PlayStation appears to have struck a deal with The Callisto Protocol publisher Krafton to keep Final Transmission exclusive to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, if only briefly.The Callisto Protocol launched in late 2022 and focuses on protagonist Jacob Lee. Lee is imprisoned in a facility based on Callisto, one of Jupiter's moons, under strange pretenses. Just when Lee is introduced to the prison system, all hell breaks loose and Lee must fight for his survival as the prison population becomes infected with a disease driving them to violence. The Callisto Protocol ends on a cliffhanger, however, with a story DLC now known to be Final Transmission promised via the game's season pass.The announcement of Final Transmission came with a major caveat, however. When Final Transmission launches on June 27, it will only be available on PlayStation platforms. It doesn't matter if those on PC or Xbox pre-purchased the season pass, they'll be waiting. The exclusivity period was only confirmed now. It was not made clear when the season pass went on sale at The Callisto Protocol's launch.
As frustrating as it may be that Krafton sold a window of exclusivity for Final Transmission to PlayStation, the exclusivity will be rather short. Final Transmission will launch on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on June 27. It will unlock for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S two days later on June 29. The exclusivity window is just two days long, and is being framed as an "early access" period rather than platform exclusivity.
The issue would be that, while two days may not seem like a substantial window for exclusivity, it's very likely more than enough time to complete a story-based DLC like Final Transmission. That could result in PlayStation players of The Callisto Protocol playing through Final Transmission and sharing their experiences online about it before PC or Xbox players get the opportunity to play it. That's probably not what PC and Xbox season pass owners expected when they made their purchase.
While the decision to make Final Transmission exclusive for two days may prove controversial, it's also somewhat understandable. The Callisto Protocol wasn't particularly well-received, both critically and in overall sales. Krafton may have sold an exclusivity window to try and recover some development costs. Just because it's understandable doesn't necessarily make it the correct choice, however. PC and Xbox players unfortunately don't have many options, short of requesting refunds.
The Callisto Protocol is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
