The Callisto Protocol, the new sci-fi horror game from the creative minds behind Dead Space, was conceived and announced as a game set in the PlayerUnknown’s Battleground universe, several centuries in the future. Now, according to former Visceral Games GM and current Striking Distance Studios CEO Glen Schofield, that is no longer the case and the game has its own world and property separate from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
FYI @CallistoTheGame is its own story and world. It no longer takes place in the PUBG Universe. It was originally part of the PUBG timeline, but grew into its own world. PUBG is awesome, &we will still have little surprises for fans, but TCP is its own world, story and universe.
— Glen A. Schofield (@GlenSchofield) May 26, 2022
“FYI,” Schofield writes on Twitter, “@CallistoTheGame is its own story and world. It no longer takes place in the PUBG universe. It was originally part of the PUBG timeline, but grew into its own world. PUBG is awesome &we [sic] will still have little surprises for fans, but TCP is its own world, story, and universe.”
The game’s original story had it taking place in the year 2320 at the Black Iron prison colony located on Jupiter’s moon Callisto, thus the title. The player would take control of one of the prisoners who has to survive and escape when an alien invasion comes to the prison’s front door. It was never particularly clear what this had to do with PUBG, but the two shared the common theme of prisons, so I guess it has that going for it.
It is clear at least why The Callisto Protocol was once intended to be in the PUBG universe, though. Striking Distance Studios was formed by Krafton, which was formerly known as Bluehole, the South Korean publisher behind PUBG. They were looking to expand the universe similar to how Riot has been trying to expand League of Legends in different games and genres. It’s good that they aren’t holding on to the idea too hard and are willing to let go when it makes sense to.
In a lengthy interview with Game Informer this month, Schofield admitted he was channeling a lot of Dead Space into The Callisto Protocol.
“I’m not going to shy away from a good idea because it was in one of my games,” Schofield said. “All game makers look at ideas from other games. Picasso said, ‘good artists borrow, great artists steal’. Well, why not steal from myself?”
The Callisto Protocol is targeting a release in 2022.
[Disclaimer: Fanbyte is owned by Tencent, which also has a significant investment in Krafton. The company has no editorial oversight with Fanbyte Media. I’ve never met anyone from Tencent and probably wouldn’t listen to them even if I had.]
