The Callisto Protocol it seems to be the last video game that hasn’t featured multiple staff members in the end credits. According to reports from GamesIndustry.bizvarious former developer employees striking distance studies found their names omitted from the credits. While five former team members spoke to the outlet, estimates put the total at about 20 people who were not listed. A former staff member expressed that these were not part-time contractors, but rather senior employees who were deeply involved in the game’s production and had been for a year or more.
“I understand if a contractor does a small amount of work for a few months and they leave, but we are talking about full-time employees with over a year invested in the title and who were involved in significant parts of the product,” said one developer. to GamesIndustry.biz. “That’s where the surprise comes from for many of us.”
Before launch, there were reports of crises at Striking Distance Studios, and many of the employees say they put in long hours to complete work at The Callisto Protocol. Despite this, there is a sense that those who stayed until the end were rewarded with a spot in the credits and some who weren’t were punished. Unfortunately, that seems to be a trend in many different studies. In 2021, several former MercurySteam employees were shocked to find out they were left out of the credits for metroid terror. The reason for its omission appeared to be an internal requirement at MercurySteam that staff must remain for 25% of the game’s development to qualify for their name in the credits.
There is no industry standard for how long an employee must work on a video game to be included in a game’s credits. Cases like these help shed light on how unreasonable the practice is, but do little to help those affected. As more developers share their stories about this practice, hopefully the industry as a whole can start to do better.
You played The Callisto Protocol? Do you think the industry needs to do better with this? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter and on Hive at @Marcdachamp to talk about everything related to games!
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