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Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield is leaving Striking Distance Studios less than a year after The Callisto Protocol‘s release.
Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield founded Striking Distance Studios in 2019
Bloomberg‘s Jason Schreier reported that Striking Distance Studios Chief Executive Officer Glen Schofield is leaving the studio, noting that a representative of Korean publisher Krafton — of which Striking Distance is a subsidiary of — stated that Schofield has “decided to pursue new opportunities,” and that the “studio’s plans remain unaffected.”
Chief Development Officer Steve Papoutsis will be the new CEO. Schofield also released a statement about his departure.
“Creating Striking Distance Studios has been an incredible journey and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved with The Callisto Protocol, a game close to my heart,” Schofield states. “While pursuing a new adventure is exciting, leaving SDS is bittersweet, but I know the studio is in excellent hands. Steve and I go way back to working at Visceral Games. I saw how successful he was in taking the reins after my departure then and how he continued the studio’s success and growth. That’s how I know he’s the one to lead the studio into its next chapter.”
The complete statement from Krafton is as follows:
“After successfully founding Striking Distance Studios, Glen Schofield has decided to pursue new opportunities. Steve Papoutsis, who previously served as Chief Development Officer and General Manager for SDS, Chief Operating Officer at Baobab Studios, and Vice President, General Manager, and Executive Producer at Electronic Arts, has been appointed CEO of the studio. There is no better person than Steve to guide SDS through this transition. His long professional collaboration with Glen extends all the way back to when they first worked together at Crystal Dynamics in the late ’90s before reuniting at Visceral Games.
“Glen’s contributions during his time at Krafton have been invaluable. He built an ace team of talents at SDS and set a high standard for the work they did together every day. We’re confident in the team’s continued success because of the significant impact Glen has had, and for that we owe him our deepest gratitude. We have been carefully planning for the transition to ensure a smooth handover and uninterrupted operations. Striking Distance Studios is committed to supporting its incredibly talented team. Our staff remains a top priority during this transition as they’re the backbone of our success. The studio’s plans remain unaffected, and its focus is to continue producing exceptional content.”
The Callisto Protocol was first released on December 1 of last year. It received largely mixed reviews from critics and players and reportedly failed to meet Krafton’s sales expectations. As a result of this, Striking Distance suffered layoffs last month, with 32 employees in total being laid off as Krafton implemented “strategic changes that realign the studio’s priorities.”