Lower than two months after releasing The Callisto Protocol’s first (and final) story enlargement DLC, developer Hanging Distance Studios has laid off 32 workers.
As famous by VGC, the layoffs first got here to mild after quite a few workers reported being let go by the studio. Hanging Distance mum or dad firm Krafton later confirmed with IGN {that a} complete of 32 workers had been terminated. That is a not-insignificant share of the studio’s complete headcount, which in keeping with Hanging Distance’s “about us” web page at the moment sits as 144 workers in all.
“Hanging Distance Studios and Krafton have carried out strategic modifications that realign the studio’s priorities to higher place its present and future initiatives for fulfillment,” Krafton stated. “Sadly, these modifications have impacted 32 workers. Honoring the invaluable contributions of every departing crew member with materials assist within the type of outplacement companies and significant severance packages is our high precedence throughout this troublesome second.”
The layoffs come lower than a 12 months after the discharge of Hanging Distance’s first game, The Callisto Protocol, a Lifeless House-like survival horror game that made a fairly good impression when it arrived in December 2022. It did not break any new floor however delivered “participating, linear sci-fi survival horror that spins a deepening dystopian yarn round dozens of traumatic encounters,” we stated in our 79% evaluate.
Sadly, launch day efficiency issues fuelled an unsightly blowback on Steam, and whereas the issue was addressed pretty rapidly, the proof stays: The Callisto Protocol nonetheless bears a “blended” ranking throughout virtually 24,000 consumer evaluations.
The Callisto Protocol’s gross sales had been a good greater drawback, nevertheless. In January, writer Krafton revised its expectations dramatically downward, from 5 million copies offered to only two million, and acknowledged that even attaining that decrease determine “is not going to be simple.” Two million items offered hardly feels like a flop, however Krafton stated on the time that it had sunk greater than $161 million into The Callisto Protocol over the earlier three years, and it takes greater than a pair million copies out the door to recoup that type of funding.
The ultimate nail within the coffin could have been the discharge of The Callisto Protocol: Ultimate Transmission DLC In June. It too holds only a “blended” consumer ranking on Steam, and tellingly the precise variety of evaluations is far decrease than the bottom game: At the moment simply over 500 individuals have bothered to provide it a ranking.
