Striking Distance Studios
In a recent interview for The Game Business, Glen Schofield, the creator behind Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol, reflected on the development of these legendary titles and shared his thoughts on a new game.
The developer recalled the creation of Dead Space, which became a player favorite upon its release in 2008, and revealed that he had considered leaving EA at the time. He agreed to stay on the condition that he would be given a team of 20 people and a year of creative freedom. The project’s budget reached $32 million, but the creator noted that the company had many other projects in development at the time, making it difficult to pitch the game internally. “You end up marketing inside your own company,” Schofield said, recalling the additional tricks the development team had to employ:
“Then we made posters and we’d put them up when there were big internal meetings. The executives would get together, and we put these posters in the [toilets], so whenever they went to the bathroom, they were seeing Dead Space. We did this gorilla marketing to stay relevant.” Schofield also noted: “That’s about as indie as you can get inside a giant company, having to fight for your dollars.”
EA Redwood Shores
The Callisto Protocol, a spiritual successor to Dead Space, was released in 2022 and allegedly cost $160 million. Its publisher, KRAFTON, audited Schofield’s Striking Distance Studios twice. The costs included the switch from PS4 to PS5 and the building of a publishing company from scratch, as KRAFTON had only one for PUBG. However, KRAFTON never forced the devs to cut costs, Schofield notes.
Striking Distance Studios
Currently, Schofield has a new idea in mind, featuring an Egyptian-inspired story about Ramesses VIII, the only Pharaoh never to be found. The developer estimates the budget as under $100 million.
In another interview, lead developers of Dead Space, Game Director Glen Schofield, Animation Director Christopher Stone, and Creative Director Bret Robbins, shared that they pitched the idea of Dead Space 4, but it was rejected.
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