A former Sony executive has confirmed that Playstation has contributed significantly to developing the upcoming horror game The Callisto Protocol.

It has been revealed that PlayStation and its parent company Sony have been involved in developing The Callisto Protocol, the upcoming sci-fi survival horror game from new developer Striking Distance Studios. The game has generated considerable hype online since its announcement. This is mainly due to the incredible graphics and animation shown in the trailers.

The Callisto Protocol was directed by Glen Schofield, co-creator of the iconic Dead Space series, and is often referred to as the spiritual successor to those games due to the similarities in setting, aesthetics and gameplay elements.

In interviews, Schofield stated that there is no connection between the fictional universes of Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol. However, the former’s significant creative influence has found its way into the new IP. The gruesome, gory imagery used in both games is one obvious similarity. True, the game has a unique and visually stunning style, especially in cinematic scenes.

The impressive quality of the cinematics seems partly due to the collaboration between Striking Distance Studios and Sony Visual Arts Services Group (VASG). In response to a tweet highlighting that the game had rented space in PlayStation’s motion capture studio to shoot the cinematics, Michael Mumbauer, former head of VASG Studios, said Sony’s contribution to the project went even further. In a half-sentence, Mumbauer suggests that Striking Distance had a deeper collaboration than previously acknowledged.

San Diego-based VASG has provided resources and expertise to several game development studios for years and has been called the unsung hero of countless popular PlayStation titles.

The beneficiaries of VASG’s assistance are mostly Sony-owned studios. But the company also works with outside studios such as Striking Distance from time to time.

For a relatively small and untried studio like Striking Distance, it seems a smart move to work with influential companies like Sony. It gives them access to facilities and technologies that are out of reach for most developers. Likely, the game’s widely praised cinematic visuals are at least partly due to this collaboration. True, the hard-working team at Striking Distance Studios certainly still deserves the lion’s share of the credit. Fans can expect to see more when The Callisto Protocol is released next month.

Source: Twitter

It wasn’t just the use of the mocap studio. They contributed quite a lot to cinematics and more.

Going to be a banger. 🤘 https://t.co/qMeXeXS3U0

— Michael Mumbauer (@MichaelMumbauer) November 15, 2022