A recent job posting dictates the developers behind Callisto Protocol are looking to make a new game and need a Lead Animator for it. Striking Distance! Studios created Callisto Protocol with the vision of making it a spiritual successor to the Dead Space franchise. In fact, the director of this game, Glen Schofield was also one of the Creators of the Dead Space franchise. The developers, Striking Distance! are now working on an unannounced game.
NEWS: Striking Distance, the studio behind The Callisto Protocol) is working on a new Unreal Engine 5 game
What type of improvements do you hope to see in their game development, after The Callisto Protocol?
Source: https://t.co/dP26r9LpXx #PlayStation #Gaming pic.twitter.com/i12k9wShYh
— Rino (@RinoTheBouncer) January 24, 2024
The job listing can be found on the Greenhouse website. The listing is for a Lead Gameplay Animator and the requirement is for a person to “create the most dynamic and engaging player and enemy experiences for a brand new, unannounced UE5 title.” Little is known about the title that Striking Distance! is producing.
However, it is likely going to be a AAA production due to the title being developed on Unreal Engine 5. We do not have confirmation if it is going to be a horror genre or not but we wouldn’t put it past them to take another shot at the genre after the mixed response Callisto Protocol received.
Fans are excited for the future despite Callisto Protocol’s failure
The Callisto Protocol released in late December 2022 and did not live up to the hype despite the comparisons to the Dead Space franchise. The reasons were the performance issues on release for Windows which set the game back severely. From there, the game did not get a chance to recover. Despite its release on the next-gen consoles, the sales numbers were lesser than its other horror peers. However, on release, it was the highest-selling retail game of the week.
Fans are expecting a ton of improvement from Striking Distance! studios for this new project. The Callisto Protocol had tons of repetitive content that fans did not like. In addition to the issues on PC, there were gameplay, writing, and combat problems that had fans on the edge. There were a couple of other complaints for Callisto Protocol as well which fans hope the studios improve for their next title.
Cool, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Callisto Protocol
— UKKỌ (@UkkoVP) January 24, 2024
Fans loved the overall feel and the level of animation of the Callisto Protocol. Striking Distance! did a really good job of presenting the Black Iron Prison and its dangers.
Audio, visuals, and atmosphere were top tier in CP. If it didn’t force melee for just about every encounter and had level design complexity more like Metroid Prime it would have been an all time classic. I look forward to what they do next!
— Aaron (@Violinplyr927) January 24, 2024
The audio, visuals, and atmosphere complemented the premise of the game quite well and were potentially the saving grace of it. However, the problem that most players had with the game was the lackluster combat system in-game. Fans mention that it forced melee interaction most of the time. They would like a more balanced combat system with an emphasis on combat with a touch of range warfare.
