How The Callisto Protocol refines blood-drenched death in space
December 2, 2022Death comes for you in the dark, and it comes for you in the blinding light of space horror survival game The Callisto Protocol. It drops from the ceiling, slinks from vents, and runs – arms flailing – screaming, evolving before your eyes. It wears its ruptured humanity like a pustulous skin.
That video game death in space – especially when accompanied by multitudinous monstrosities, blood-drenched gruesome action, and diegetic design – can’t help but recall the definitive horror survival classic Dead Space isn’t a concern for the team behind The Callisto Protocol.
Developers Striking Distance – many of whom worked on the Dead Space franchise – seem to embrace that influence, redefining their earlier notions to deliver something genuinely unique.
It’s all powered in part by years of experience working together as a team, despite having just formed Striking Distance in 2019.
“It’s like old times,” said Striking Distance founder and CEO Glen Schofield. “A lot of the team has been with me since Visceral at EA – we went to Sledgehammer together, and now we’re at Striking Distance. I’ve worked with our Chief Development Officer Steve Papoutsis for more than 20 years. Same with our Chief Creative Officer Chris Stone. We just know each other so well that we just have a shorthand and way of working together that lets us be super creative and work really quickly. We’re all such fans of sci-fi and horror, it’s a passion project for all of us.”
To read the rest of this story, which first ran on Dec. 2, 2022, visit the Epic Games Store.
