News game “Not being quoted sucks!” : These forgotten developers in the credits of their own video game
Published on 01/10/2023 at 17:08
About twenty developers were “forgotten” from The Callisto Protocol credits according to anonymous sources at gamesindustry.biz.
With a score of 70 on Metacritic, The Callisto Protocol is not really one of the productions that most marked the video game landscape at the end of 2022. The spiritual successor to Dead Space did not necessarily shine by its gameplay or its scenario, but its graphics nevertheless convinced everyone. On our side, the game inherits a nice 15/20: “Despite a certain lack of audacity, Striking Distance managed to steal the rings of Saturn in order to slip them on the ring fingers of sci-fi horror lovers”. The Striking Distance team can thus consider themselves rather satisfied with their baby, but behind the scenes, some are voicing their dissatisfaction on another subject. Our colleagues at gamesindustry.biz spoke with five former studio developers, all missing from the game’s credits. Other media sources estimate that about 20 people, all from various departments, were simply forgotten in the end credits of the game.. Developers, managers and directors would be concerned. Asked for a response, no company representative has yet responded to gamesindustry’s request.
It hurts, that’s for sure. It sucks. I made a good contribution and worked on it for a while. Not being there at all sucks – A source.
Long forgotten contributions
Also according to the sources of the journalists, some of the people quoted would have worked for Striking Distance for more than a year, when others are “really essential people who built the studio”.
I understand if an entrepreneur does a small amount of work for a few months and gets left out, but we’re talking about full-time employees who have invested over a year in the title, and got their hands on important parts of the product. This is where the surprise for many of us came from – A source.
Some developers interviewed then speak of favoritism, pointing to a distribution deemed inconsistent credits, some names are simply scattered in the categories “Additional Help” or “Miscellaneous”. However, as gamesindustry reminds us, the International Game Developers Association asks to credit any member who has worked for a studio for at least 30 dayscontractors included.
Last year, another controversy
This is not the first controversy that Striking Distance has to face. Already last year, producer Glen Schofield received the wrath of the internet after sharing his pride in seeing his team working 12 to 15 hours a day and 6 days a week in a since-deleted tweet. A statement that did not really reflect the healthy corporate culture and to which Schofield had to return, promising to value “passion and creativity, not long hours”. However, the long hours were part of the studio program according to some anonymous people, who would have liked a little more recognition.
Video game development can be intense, especially when it comes to delivering a product of this magnitude, and you can’t always find the best work-life balance. The problem is that those of us who have taken part in this culture, who have put in the time and worked hard to develop this product, have been punished with credit default for not making a extra effort…to stay until the product is shipped.
“It’s the only company in which I worked where we learned a week to a month later that someone from the team had left,” added someone in the batch of testimonies collected.
About The Callisto Protocol
