The Callisto Protocol studio Striking Distance has been hit with more layoffs, parent company Krafton has confirmed, amid claims “most of” its developers have lost their jobs.
Word of job cuts at Striking Distance began surfacing earlier today as employees took to social media. Former director of concept art Jesse Lee wrote that “most of the devs were laid off”, while former cloud devops engineer Seth Spitkoski said “many” had been impacted.
Krafton later confirmed layoffs at the studio in a statement shared with PC Gamer. “Striking Distance Studios has reduced the size of its team to remain agile,” the company wrote, “which creates a sustainable environment for the studio at its current stage of development.”
“The studio remains operational,” the publisher added, “and these changes will not impact any planned ongoing support. No further changes are planned at this time.” Krafton did not reveal the reveal the number of staff impacted by its job cuts.
Striking Distance was founded by Dead Space creator Glen Schofield in 2019, and the California-based studio would go on to release sci-fi horror game The Callisto Protocol in 2022. However, following disappointing sales, Schofield parted ways with Krafton in 2023, and 32 employees were laid off amid efforts to “realign the studio’s priorities”.
Since then, Striking Distance has announced a roguelike The Callisto Protocol spin-off, codenamed Project Birdseye, but no further details have been shared following its reveal.
Confirmation of layoffs at Krafton comes as job cuts and studio closures continue across the games industry. February alone has seen seen the likes of Monolith Productions, Player First Games, Warner Bros. Games San Diego, and Liquid Swords shut their doors, with layoffs confirmed at Marvel Rivals’ US development team and Surgeon Simulator studio Bossa Games.
