The Callisto Protocol was announced last month as a new survival horror experience from none other than the creators of Dead Space. While meaty details remain to be shared, it comes as pretty bizarre that the in-development game actually shares the same universe as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
The Callisto Protocol is being developed at Striking Distance Studios which is part of PUBG Corporation. That may not matter much except that a team of writers tasked to pen down an atmospheric horror is also helping out to pen down the PUBG lore and universe. Both games, as it turns out, share the same universe. The only difference being that one game offers horror in space and the other a crazed battle royale on-ground.
Speaking with GamesRadar in an interview, Dead Space co-creator and Striking Distance Studios director Glen Schofield offered an explanation.
“We’re helping PUBG Corp right now as a team of writers, working on the lore for PUBG and its universe,” explained Schofield. “They have a timeline, and we fit on that timeline now. It’s not going to be really deep, but there will be little connections here and there. We’ll probably be referencing one another from time to time… It will make more sense once the game comes out!”
The Callisto Protocol takes place in the year 2320 on Callisto, one of the many moons of Jupiter. The planet will apparently be housing a maximum security prison in the far future players will be trying to escape. The game is described to be “a blend of horror, action, and immersive storytelling, the game aims to set a new bar for horror in interactive entertainment.”
The Callisto Protocol remains in active development for PlayStation 5. Striking Distance Studios has only released an announcement trailer at the time of writing but should follow up with more details with the start of the new year. A release window of 2022 has already been slated.
