Callisto Protocol studio Striking Distance is working on ‘a brand new, unannounced UE5 title’

Striking Distance Studios, the developer behind The Callisto Protocol, is working on a new Unreal Engine 5 game.

As spotted by X games industry analyst MauroNL, the studio has posted nine new job listings, which relate to the new project.

One of the ads, for the Lead Gameplay Animator position, confirms that the studio is working on a new title.

“Striking Distance Studios is looking for a Lead Gameplay Animator to help us create the most dynamic and engaging player and enemy experiences for a brand new, unannounced UE5 title,” it says.

Other ads for gameplay engineers note that “melee combat experience is a plus”.

The ads suggest a new start for a studio that suffered layoffs and the departure of its CEO last year.

In August, it was confirmed that 32 employees had been laid off at Striking Distance, with reports that the remaining headcount was around 90.

The following month, it was announced that Striking Distance CEO Glen Schofield would also be leaving the studio after Callisto Protocol, which was its debut game, failed to meet expectations.

A Krafton representative explained at the time that Schofield had “decided to pursue new opportunities”, and that Striking Distance’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer were also leaving the company voluntarily.

Former Sledgehammer Games and Visceral Games general manager Schofield, who is best known as the co-creator of Dead Space, founded Striking Distance in 2019 with the goal of crafting an original narrative experience in the PUBG universe.

This evolved into The Callisto Protocol, a standalone sci-fi survival horror game. The Callisto Protocol received mixed reviews when it was released in December 2022, a month before EA released a critically acclaimed Dead Space remake.

In January 2023, an analyst claimed Krafton had targeted five million sales for The Callisto Protocol, but it reportedly only reached around two million.