Striking Distance Studios will be seeing a number of it’s top members leaving including former Dead Space Co-Creator and Striking Distance CEO Glen Schofield. Striking Distance Studios was founded in 2019 by Schofield with the backing of the Korean video game publisher Krafton. Initially, the studio was tasked with creating a narrative game to branch out Krafton’s PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS however, development had evolved the game into a title that barely fit the PUBG universe and the idea was scrapped.
A representative of the Krafton subsidiary confirmed the departure in a recent Bloomberg report on Wednesday. The report explained that Schofield had voluntarily left the company and was deciding to pursue new opportunities elsewhere. The others leaving the three-year-old studio include COO Stacey Hirata and the CFO Johnny Hsu.
Taking over the role of CEO is the former Chief Development Officer (CDO) Steve Papoutsis, who had previously worked on Dead Space alongside Schofield. Schofield detailed his sadness towards leaving the studio in a statement.
“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,” said Schofield. “While pursuing a new adventure is exciting, leaving SDS is bittersweet, but I know the studio is in excellent hands.”
The news has been met with sadness and with some bewilderment by many fans of Schofield’s work. Regardless, it’s hardly a stretch to see that 2023 has been a rough year for Striking Distance Studios.
Following the troubled launch of their first game Callisto Protocol, Striking Distance saw severe layoffs that resulted in over 30 employees leaving the company. And despite its restructuring, with the departure of Schofield, there is a growing fear that Striking Distance Studios’ days are numbered. Only time will tell, hopefully the studio can find its ground again among its new leadership.