Striking Distance CEO Clarifies The Callisto Protocol Crunch Comment; Says He “Doesn’t Believe in Crunch”

The Callisto Protocol

Just last month, Striking Distance Studios CEO Glen Schofield tweeted something about his upcoming game, The Callisto Protocol, that went viral, but for all the wrong reasons. In the now-deleted tweet, Schofield mentioned that the devs involved in the game work 6-7 days a week, though nobody’s forcing them, which many quickly pointed out that crunch culture was in full effect at the studio. 

In the latest issue of EDGE magazine (issue #377), Schofield clarifies what he meant by the now-infamous tweet. Before diving in to what he has to say, you can check out ta screenshot of the tweet below for reference.

Tweet from Striking Distance Studios CEO Glen Schofield - “I only talk about the game during an event. We are working 6-7 days a week, nobody’s forcing us. Exhaustion, tired, Covid, but we’re working. Bugs, glitches, performance fixes. One last pass through audio. 12-15 hour days. This is gaming. Hard work. Lunch, dinner working. You do it ‘cause ya love it.”

In his statement, Schofield mentions that he’s not a fan of crunch, given he suffered through it before himself. And that his tweet was referencing a small team in the studio, and that tweet was a way of thanking them.

I may be old, but I’m not old school. I’ve been through crunch time that I never want to put anybody through. I was on Return Of The King – arguably the worst ever,” he says. “Look, I’ll be honest with you – for the last three years, we’ve been really good. We talk about it all the time. We have 120-something people that work from home, we’re in 17 states, and we pay California wages. We try to be fair.

I do not believe in crunch, man. I had three kids during it, and I took two days off for each one, right? And nowadays, I’m so happy that we can give six weeks off. And it’s mandatory. You. Take. This. Time. Off.”

I was just thanking ’em…You know, when people know that there was passion [invested] and you’re just trying to let them know that this was out of passion and just trying to get things done. I mean, they’re artists and engineers and sometimes it’s just hard to put the pencil down, you know?

Hopefully, Schofield just worded his tweet wrong, and it’s not as bad is sounds. In the same chat, Schofield also revealed that The Callisto Protocol will take 12-14 hours to finish, though there are added stuff for replayability.

The Callisto Protocol will be released this December 2 on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

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