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When pandemic restrictions interrupted Striking Distance Studios’ move into its new San Ramon headquarters in March 2020, the studio was still growing and had only briefly rehearsed remote work. Founder Glen Schofield told GamesBeat that the team shifted home, fixed equipment and network problems, and kept some development moving—but work involving actors, motion capture, and certain audio tasks was harder to move online. His account, published April 2, 2020, is a snapshot of the studio’s first weeks away from its office, not a current description of the company.
How Striking Distance moved from its new office to remote work
Striking Distance Studios had begun moving into its San Ramon, California, headquarters around March 1, 2020. Roughly two weeks later, as pandemic restrictions took hold, the team left the office. The facility included a motion-capture studio, and the company was still building out its staff. Schofield described the abrupt change in an edited interview with GamesBeat journalist Dean Takahashi, published April 2, 2020. Read the GamesBeat interview.
They practiced before the office closed
Schofield said the studio had asked employees to practice working from home for a couple of days before the shutdown. Once staff were home, they reported missing equipment and workflow issues. The studio’s network staff addressed technical problems, cameras were obtained, and employees who took PCs home had them secured and encrypted.
Short daily meetings helped surface blockers
Schofield said the team met on Zoom for 15 minutes each day to discuss obstacles. That was the studio founder’s description of its early response, not a universally tested formula for game production or remote teams.
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Which game-development work could continue remotely?
The transition did not affect every task equally. Schofield’s account distinguishes work individuals could pursue at home from production that depended on actors, shared facilities, or in-person collaboration.
| Work | What Schofield said in 2020 |
|---|---|
| Story, design, concept art, and technology | These were among the parts of the project the studio was developing. The interview described them as ongoing creative and technical work, without specifying a remote productivity measure. GamesBeat interview. |
| Motion capture with actors | Earlier capture sessions had given animators material for several months, Schofield said, but new sessions involving actors could not take place under isolation conditions. GamesBeat interview. |
| Audio and composer work | Schofield anticipated delays to some audio and composer work. The interview did not quantify the delays. GamesBeat interview. |
| Hiring | He said recruiting was more difficult, although the studio continued interviewing remotely. GamesBeat interview. |
This was an early-pandemic account from one studio. It shows how existing captured material and tasks that could be handled individually offered some continuity, while work requiring performers or specialized facilities was more exposed to restrictions. It does not establish how other studios handled the same constraints.
What Schofield said about the studio’s size and plans
All staffing figures in the interview were Schofield’s estimates or plans at the time; they are not verified final counts or current headcount.
- More than 70 people, approaching 80: Schofield’s point-in-time estimate of the team in 2020. GamesBeat interview.
- 40 or 50 additional hires: his hiring plan, not a confirmed later outcome. GamesBeat interview.
- About 14 years of development experience on average: Schofield’s characterization of the then-current team, not an independently measured industry statistic. GamesBeat interview.
- Roughly 150 studio employees and around 300 people involved with a game before testing: estimates and production plans he discussed, with testing potentially increasing the total. Schofield also said the studio planned to use outside help, particularly for technology, while keeping many artists in-house. GamesBeat interview.
These figures describe different things: the studio’s current size, intended hiring, an eventual studio target, and a broader production workforce. They should not be read as a single confirmed headcount.
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Schofield said he chose the East Bay because he knew developers there who commuted to Silicon Valley. He also viewed San Ramon as a lower-cost location with community and transport amenities. Those were his reasons and personal comparison, not independently verified real-estate or commuting data.
He said PUBG Corp. funded Striking Distance and gave him latitude to build the studio, select the team, and choose its location. The interview does not state the funding amount, contract terms, or detailed governance arrangements. GamesBeat interview.
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What was known about the game—and what stayed confidential?
Schofield described the project as an original, narrative-driven triple-A experience, with story, design, concept art, and underlying technology in development. He declined to name the game. Although he joked that the team called its ambition “quad-A,” that phrase expressed his aspiration, not an independently defined industry category.
The Callisto Protocol was later released as a game from Striking Distance Studios, but it was not named in this interview. KRAFTON’s official game introduction describes it as a narrative-driven, third-person survival-horror game and lists PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One. KRAFTON’s packages page, dated June 26, 2023, lists Standard, Day One, Digital Deluxe, and Collector’s Edition versions. The PlayStation Store listing confirms a PS4/PS5 Standard Edition. These later product details do not reveal which game Takahashi asked about in 2020.
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