The Callisto Protocol is once again at the heart of a controversy for having forgotten something very important for its developers.
At the end of last year, The Callisto Protocol came to pour its hectoliters of sticky hemoglobin on consoles and PC. A release that largely divided the press and players since if the game was praised for its good ideas, its worked universe and its high-end graphics, it also made a catastrophic launch on PC where it was almost unplayable.
But today, the new controversy does not concern the technique of the game, which has been greatly improved thanks to large patches, but rather certain developers who had the very unpleasant surprise of having been cut during the editing.
When The Callisto Protocol forgets its developers
Several former developers of Striking Distance Studios, interviewed by indeed declared that about twenty employees had not even been credited for their work, whereas they had worked on the development for several months (years for some) , and full time.
I can understand that if an employee only does a small amount of work for a few months they get left out, but we’re talking full-time employees here with over a year invested in development and who have participated in significant parts of the product. This is where the surprise for many of us comes from.
The irony is that according to the dissatisfied developers interviewed, several people would have been favored and would have been thanked. A “selection” and “favouritism” that does not pass.
There was no doubt a lot of favoritism in the choice of people who were credited. I feel like they singled out the people they liked or had a relationship with, and didn’t credit the others.
GamesIndustry
It’s the last straw
Anger is brewing among the developers of The Callisto Protocol, while the specter of Glen Schofield’s crunch slippage still looms large. The director had indeed said that the work was “hard and intense”, but that if they did it, “it was because ‘it had to be done’. Words that were very clearly not passed. Schofield will eventually delete his tweet and apologize with a new one a few hours later, but the damage was done.
And for the developers, not being credited after putting so much energy into the game is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It’s the coup de grace.
Game development can be intense, especially when it comes to delivering a product like The Callisto Protocol in time. You can’t always find the best work-life balance. The problem is that those of us who took part in this crunch, who dedicated time to it and worked hard to develop The Callisto Protocolwere punished with a credit miss for not going the extra mile to stay until the very end.
GamesIndustry
It hurts. It sucks. I made a good contribution and worked on it for quite a while. Not being credited at all sucks.
GamesIndustry
And what about the law ?
However, as GamesIndustry reminds us, the law is very clear on the subject and obliges companies to credit each person who has worked at least 30 days on the project, even subcontractors or people who have left the project along the way. Striking Distance Studios is therefore off the charts.
Unfortunately, this kind of business is unfortunately not that rare, recently moreover, it is God of War Ragnarok which was a source of problems, since Santa Monica had not credited one of its composers who had nevertheless mixed one of the main themes of the game, which had angered the artist.
For the moment, regarding The Callisto Protocol, no one at Striking Distance, not even Glen Schofield, has yet commented. Case to follow.
