Glen Schofield — co-founder of Sledgehammer Games and creator of EA’s Dead Space series — has shared his frustrations trying to bring a game to fruition in the current industry climate, and admitted he’s now wondering if “maybe [he’s] directed [his] last game.”
In a candid LinkedIn message, Schofield detailed how difficult he’s found it to secure funding for a AAA horror game proposal, writing in a public message: “Game Industry: It’s tough out there.”
Revealing he’s been working for the last eight months on a proposal developed in conjunction with his daughter and fellow developer Nicole, Schofield said he pulled together a team of “talented folks” from both the UK and the U.S. to work on a prototype. And while he “started taking meetings,” presumably with publishers and investors, he ultimately “decided to walk away,” as “some ideas are better left untouched than done cheap.”
“We pulled the budget down to $17 million, built a prototype with a small, talented crew, and started taking meetings,” he wrote. “People loved the concept. We got a lot of [second] and [third] meetings. But early feedback was ‘get it to $10 million.’ Lately, that number’s dropped to $2–5 million.
“So last month, we decided to walk away. Some ideas are better left untouched than done cheap. We had a team of six here in the States and a full crew in the UK. Now, everyone’s looking for work.”
After inviting people to get in touch if they have any openings for his artist daughter or the rest of the team, Schofield reflected on what may be next for him.
“I’ve worked on games of every size. From 2 of us to over 300 devs. Spent the last 15–20 years making big AAA titles with great teams. That’s what I do. That’s what I love. But with the industry on pause, AAA feels like it’s a long ways away.
“So I’m back to my art. I miss it all; the team, the chaos, the joy of building something for fans. I’m still around, making art, writing stories and ideas and still cheering the industry on. But maybe I’ve directed my last game. Who knows? If so thank you playing my games.”
Schofield joined parent company Krafton in 2019 to launch Striking Distance Studios after leaving Activision and Sledgehammer, the studio he co-founded, in 2018. There, he created The Callisto Protocol, a spiritual successor to the original Dead Space, which he co-created while working at Electronic Arts’ Visceral Games studio from 2002 to 2009.
However, The Callisto Protocol failed to meet expectations. Krafton predicted the title would sell five million copies, but later revised this estimate to two million, and Schofield ended up leaving Striking Distance Studios to “pursue new opportunities” in late 2023. A few months later, Striking Distance Studios laid off 32 employees, attributing the decision to the realignment of business operations.