The Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance loses founder Glen Schofield

Striking Distance CEO and founder Glen Schofield is leaving the studio to "pursue new opportunities."

The news comes less than a year after the studio launched its debut title, The Callisto Protocol, and shortly after it laid off 32 employees "to better position its current and future projects for success."

Schofield will be succeeded as CEO by Steve Papoutsis, who previously served as Striking Distance chief development officer and general manager.

In a press release, Striking Distance parent company and Callisto Protocol publisher Krafton described Papoutsis as the best person to lead the studio through this transition.

"[Steve's] long professional collaboration with Glen extends all the way back to when they first worked together at Crystal Dynamics in the late '90s before reuniting at Visceral Games," reads the release.

"Glen's contributions during his time at Krafton have been invaluable. He built an ace team of talents at Striking Distance Studios and set a high standard for the work they did together every day. We're confident in the team's continued success because of the significant impact Glen has had, and for that we owe him our deepest gratitude."

Striking Distance debut reportedly missed sales target, but Schofield proud of dev team

Schofield established Striking Distance over four years ago, having previously co-founded Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare developer Sledgehammer Games and Dead Space maker Visceral Games.

The Callisto Protocol was viewed as a spiritual successor to Dead Space, which Schofield helped create as an executive producer. The title reportedly fell well short of expectations (thanks Eurogamer)–missing Krafton's internal sales target by around 3 million copies–but Schofield said he's proud of what the Striking Distance team achieved.

"Creating Striking Distance Studios has been an incredible journey and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved with The Callisto Protocol, a game close to my heart. While pursuing a new adventure is exciting, leaving Striking Distance is bittersweet, but I know the studio is in excellent hands," said Schofield.

"Steve and I go way back to working at Visceral Games. I saw how successful he was in taking the reins after my departure then and how he continued the studio’s success and growth. That’s how I know he’s the one to lead the studio into its next chapter."

The Striking Distance founder said the studio has been "carefully planning" for the transition to ensure a smooth handover. He added the studio remains committed to supporting its dev team, and claimed its long-term plans won't be affected by his departure.