As part of what was Gamescom 2022 in Cologne, Germany, we had the opportunity to sit down with Glen Schofield so he could talk to us about some of the more intimate aspects of the development of The Callisto Protocol (a great title that we were also able to play), his thoughts on gaming industry news, and the possibility of seeing The Callisto Protocol on Xbox Game Pass.
Without further introduction, here’s the word from what is for many one of the most influential creatives in the industry in recent years.
An overview of the Callito Protocol with Glen Schofield
What was the biggest challenge in developing the Callisto protocol?
We are a new company, we had to create a new team, a new IP, new consoles came out, we had a new engine, and on top of that, Covid. It was the hardest development I’ve had in my entire life. It was very hard, we had to hire more than 140 people during the Covid pandemic and we were able to do it. All of this has been accompanied by a process in which in the United States, in the technology sector, more than 47 million people have changed jobs, compared to the normal average of 20 million per year, but fortunately, we didn’t have so many problems in this sense and we were even awarded as one of the best places to work in the video game industry.
Fortunately, we were able to overcome all these obstacles. Covid has been very difficult as has adjusting to creating a creative mindset with many people on the team working from home it’s not the same as working from offices and we had to adapt to new ways of working.
Were you inspired by an aspect of reality to create the game?
This is going to sound weird, but I finished the WWII theme with Call of Duty, so over the past 10 years, every time I’ve finished one of those long development processes, it’s left me took about two weeks to go to a resort in Tulsa, for my health, and it’s a different place, sometimes you meet celebrities and that kind of stuff, the truth is you can relax. I was going for a walk in the desert and ideas came to me there, and that’s what inspired me for this game. It’s funny because my wife found it strange, but the truth is that I I’m a creative, and that’s what I do to relax.
Do you think we are facing a new era of survival horror in this generation of consoles?
There are plenty of new horror games out there, no doubt. If we compare it with the movies, there are many titles from Marvel, Star Wars, etc., but the terror never ceases to be present. There are a lot of people addicted to adrenaline, I want to believe that the genre is growing because there are a lot of people who are interested in it. At one time there was only Resident Evil, Silent Hill was gone and that raised questions about our game, especially with players who gravitate towards action titles, but we expect what the market continues to develop.
What games did you grow up with that made you imagine such brutal settings?
With my age in my childhood, there were not so many games to choose from. I remember Moon Patrol, Asteroids and that kind of stuff. Then came the Game Boy, which didn’t sound very good to me, but I loved Sega games. I loved the colors, there were great games like Treasure’s Gunstar Heroes, Biohazard Battle, fun sci-fi games. Then I remember Ikaruga, when 2.5D games existed, I always liked sci-fi games. I love Mario, but I’m a Sonic fan.
When I got married, with my wife, we played all kinds of cooperative games. I played Resident Evil a lot and was terrified of the first two Silent Hills and there were a lot of other games like that that I loved like System Shock, Doom. For example, when the enemy came out of the pipe in Doom, I already knew it was going to appear but it still scared me. They’re classic games, yet still manage to scare you, you’d think it’s easier to get that effect now but people are more used to it all.
With the career you have, it’s impossible not to refer to Dead Space, what do you think are the main differences it has with The Callisto Protocol?
There are a lot of them, the combat system is completely different, the enemies are different, the way you kill them is different, the way the story is told is different because we do it through cutscenes and narration, the characters speak and there are many other characters who are very important. The story is very deep, Isaac Clarke didn’t speak, so everything is different in the story.
In this game we have an alternate path, so to understand the story better, you need to get out of the main path. It’s a completely different game, I understand the comparisons visually, but we went with completely different color palettes, different lighting structures, even musically. I repeat, I understand the comparison, the game has our stamp on it, it’s there on purpose and I took things from my own game, yeah, like it was some kind of homage.
Is it still too early to talk about DLC or sequels?
It’s very early, when you make a game, there are still many ideas left that for various reasons you can’t include in the game. But right now we focus on launching the game, we still have a lot things to think about in the future. I have several ideas, but the first thing will be to work on some Thumbtack that it might pop up and then include more stuff, we haven’t delved into that very much, to be honest.
Do you plan to see the game on Xbox Game Pass or another subscription service in the future?
I don’t know yet, we talked about it. I think we need to give the game some time in the market, whether it’s sold out, etc. But, well, we’re really close friends of Phil Spencer, I’ve known him a long time, he’s a big fan of gaming, and I’m a big fan of Microsoft. We’re doing amazing things on Xbox with the laser traceand we even use a lot of Microsoft technology in the game, and they’ve helped us a lot, so we’re going to do everything we can to collaborate with Xbox.
What do you think of the future of the industry with these subscription models?
I don’t know, if we compare it with the cinema, all the platforms I have have a lot of very bad films, even the ones that Netflix promotes a lot, in several cases they are horrible, in many cases because the budget is weak. AAA games are expensive, so if we could reduce the cost, although I don’t know how, maybe it could be profitable, if companies had a lot of money. Microsoft has the money, they’re buying giant corporations and bringing everything to this kind of service, so maybe this is the right way to go.
Something like this is going to happen with Activision, where I spent many years, and where I think Microsoft is going to do a great job as well. I don’t know where the video game industry is going, there are a lot of very smart people inside, there are thousands of branches and I think there is something for everyone. The market is so big that there is room for all kinds of games.
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