Many thought it was peculiar that the dark, gritty horror game The Callisto Protocol was set in the PUBG universe. They’re two different genres and take place in two completely different places. It seems as though Striking Distance Studios came to the same conclusion, as the two are no longer in the same world.
FYI @CallistoTheGame is its own story and world. It no longer takes place in the PUBG Universe. It was originally part of the PUBG timeline, but grew into its own world. PUBG is awesome, &we will still have little surprises for fans, but TCP is its own world, story and universe.
— Glen A. Schofield (@GlenSchofield) May 26, 2022
Founder and CEO of Striking Distance Studios Glen Schofield tweeted about the change, stating that PUBG is still “awesome” but that The Callisto Protocol grew into its own world. Schofield also said that the game still has some surprises for fans, though. Just before the announcement of the split, Schofield recently told Game Informer (as captured by IGN) that sharing a universe “sounded really good” at first before it starting getting “a little out there.”
“The idea of us being in the universe at first sounded really good, and then as you start coming up with your story we realized, ‘Wow, this is a little out there,’” Schofield said. “We built in some touchpoints, and you’ll find them throughout the game like Easter eggs and things like that.”
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His follow-up statement adds more context, foreshadowing that the connection was losing steam even more the official announcement.
“They write this giant timeline and our writers are involved in helping,” he continued. “We sit on the timeline but we sit pretty far out there, and kind of alone. So if they ever make another game, let’s say that’s after our timeline, I would imagine our game will inform that more than we are being informed by their timeline.”
The correlation was incredibly loose to begin with. Striking Distance announced that it was making an “original narrative experience in the PUBG universe” in 2019, but that was questioned when the team revealed its horror game in December 2020. The Callisto Protocol was decidedly not like PUBG in tone or setting, so many assumed that the PUBG game was canned and that this was something else. However, a Striking Distance representative told IGN at the time that the two were still connected, which made things a little more unusual.
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Aside from a chat on Discord right after its announcement, details have been slim about the game up until this point, but they’re beginning to start leaking out. The game is on the cover of the newest issue of Game Informer (screen shots have already leaked from that issue) and it is implied that it will show up in some form during Summer Game Fest Live. Geoff Keighley revealed the game during The Game Awards, so a follow-up at another Keighley-run show would make sense.