One of the video game’s biggest problems has also hit Dead Space’s legendary creator. Glen Schofield, who led the development of The Callisto Protocol, has failed to secure funding for his next project.

The video game industry is going through a historic crisis—and not even the most renowned veterans are immune to the turmoil. Glen Schofield, best known for Dead Space and, more recently, The Callisto Protocol, has been unable to raise money for his next big game—a collaborative project with his daughter, Nicole Schofield. This personal experience gave him a front-row seat to just how dire the current state of AAA development is.

Schofield detailed his experience in a LinkedIn post about the project. “For the past eight months, I’ve been quietly working with my daughter, Nicole, on a new video game idea. She came to me, and I immediately loved the idea. Something I’d never seen before. We’ve been calling it a new subgenre of horror—not just horror, but something more.”

He continued: “We got the budget down to $17 million, designed a prototype with a small, talented team, and started taking meetings.” People loved the concept; they got plenty of follow-up meetings. “But the initial feedback was, ‘Make it for $10 million.’ Then that number dropped to $2–5 million.” Facing this reality, father and daughter abandoned the project: “Some ideas are better left untouched than made on the cheap.” The developers lost their jobs, and Nicole was fired from Striking Distance Studios—the company Schofield founded to make The Callisto Protocol, and left in September 2023 after the game’s disappointing results.

Schofield Doubts His Future in Games

This isn’t new—devs everywhere are struggling to find partners or publishers willing to back ambitious titles. But for Schofield, it’s now personal, and he’s openly questioning his future in games. “I’ve worked on games with teams of every size. From two to over 300 developers. I’ve invested the last 15–20 years in making great AAA titles with great teams. That’s what I do. That’s what I love. But with the industry on hold, AAA seems so far away.”

“So I’m back to my art. I miss everything: the team, the chaos, the joy of building something for the fans. I’m still here, making art, writing stories and ideas, and still invigorating the industry. But maybe I’ve directed my last game. Who knows? If so, thanks for playing my games.”

Source: 3djuegos