Epic Games has revealed that Striking Distance Studios’ 2022 game The Callisto Protocol will be one of its free giveaways next week. The third-person action-horror shooter/survival RPG was intended to be a new beginning for Dead Space series co-creator Glen Schofield and a team of veterans who formed Striking Distance Studios. Still, poor reception led to the studios’ top execs leaving the company following missed sales targets. Being able to get it for free, The Callisto Protocol will finally allow those interested to check the game out without risking the $59.99-$79.99 price still being asked on Epic Games Store.
Description and Combat Details (via Epic Games Store):
- “In this narrative-driven, third-person survival horror game set 300 years in the future, the player will take on the role of Jacob Lee – a victim of fate thrown into Black Iron Prison, a maximum-security penitentiary located on Jupiter’s moon, Callisto. When inmates begin to transform into monstrous creatures, the prison is thrown into chaos. To survive, Jacob must battle his way to safety to escape Black Iron Prison, while uncovering the dark and disturbing secrets buried beneath the surface of Callisto.”
- “The Callisto Protocol challenges players to master a thrilling blend of hand-to-hand and ranged combat, including a unique gravity weapon once used by Black Iron guards to control the prison population. Players will be forced to get up close and personal with their grotesque opponents, hacking off limbs, blasting off legs, and getting creative with whatever is at their disposal to survive each life-or-death encounter.”
Project Birdseye and maybe a sequel?
The remaining team at Striking Distance Studios released an early trailer for a new game in development said to expand on The Callisto Protocol world. It is tentatively called Project Birdseye and is a roguelike type of game. The team has also indicated it is working on another AAA game and checking threads of their YT videos shows a number of fans who are hoping the next game will be a sequel. While The Callisto Protocol was ridiculed for its microstutters, and criticized for various gameplay issues, it was given praise for visuals and other elements. It was recently revealed that the team had its development time cut short which led to its launch state along with content getting dropped.
Per Striking Distance Studios (via YouTube):
- “Last year, a small group of us began working on a passion project that was born out of our obsession with easy to pick up and play but fun to master roguelikes. We love the world we created for The Callisto Protocol and want to keep playing in that sandbox – and Black Iron Prison is the perfect future-punk playground for the team’s vision. As you can tell, this isn’t The Callisto Protocol 2 – think of it as a side quest that really resonated with the team – it let us expand the world of The Callisto Protocol and stretch our creative muscles on something a bit different without impacting development on our next AAA game.”