The Callisto Protocol

The Callisto Protocol is set in the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) universe, but in its far future;[1] It takes place in 2320 at a prison colony called Black Iron located on Jupiter's moon Callisto, operated by the United Jupiter Company. The player takes the role of a prisoner held at Black Iron, finding themselves in the midst of an alien invasion that appears to have been engineered by the prison's warden.[2][3]

The origins of The Callisto Protocol began with the formation of Striking Distance as a studio within PUBG Corporation in June 2019, helmed by Glen Schofield, who had previously co-created the Dead Space series at Visceral Games. The studio was created to expand the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) universe by creating a narrative driven game.[4] Schofield said that when he met with PUBG Corporation where they explained their goal to expand the PUBG narrative, he had already the concept for The Callisto Protocol in mind and presented that to them and worked with them to fit his idea into their universe.[1] Schofield wanted to keep the game grounded in reality to some degree, and thus selected a potentially human-colonizable location like Callisto as the setting. The moon has been theorized to have a subsurface ocean of water,[5][6] which Schofield believed could offer a mystery to tie into the game.[3]

Among others working on the game include Steve Papoutsis, who also co-developed the Dead Space series and led the series following Schofield's departure from Visceral; Scott Whitney, a designer on the Dead Space series; and Christopher Stone, the animation director for the former series. Of the 150 employees of Striking Distance, Schofield said that about 25 to 30 former coworkers from Visceral Games and Sledgehammer Games are part of Striking Distance working on The Castillo Protocol.[2][3][7] Several journalists commented on thematic and gameplay similarities to the Dead Space series.[1] Notably, the game appears to include the same type of diegetic interface that Dead Space had used by a holographic indicator on the back of the prisoner's neck that indicating their health status and other attributes to the player.[2] Schofield said that the comparisons to Dead Space reflect on his style of game, and while he still wanted to create something different, the allusions and inspiration from Dead Space fell out naturally from his creative approach.[3]

The Callisto Protocol is being designed for the newer home game consoles, the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X and Series S, in addition to other platforms. Schofield stated his intent was "really trying to make the scariest game on next-gen platforms" in the same way that Dead Space had been considered on its release for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[1] He stated that the game will take advantage of new lighting techniques and 3d audio systems that the new consoles, as well as haptic feedback that the PlayStation 5's DualSense controller offers, to create deep immersion for the player in the game.[1] Krafton and Striking Distance have partnered with Skybound Entertainment for release of the game.[8]

• Official website