The Callisto Protocol CEO apologizes for "coming across like" he supports crunch culture

The CEO of The Callisto Protocol studio Striking Distance has apologized after tweeting a statement that seemed to promote unhealthy "crunch" culture.

Glen Schofield – who also headed up Sledgehammer Games before establishing Striking Distance under PUBG-parent company Krafton – had tweeted yesterday that gaming was "hard work" but "you do it 'cause you love it", and then talked about six-seven day working weeks, working 12-15 hours a day, and working through lunch and dinner. 

"I only talk about the game during an event," Schofield wrote in the now deleted tweet. "We [are] working six-seven days a week, nobody's forcing us. Exhausted, tired, covid, but we're working," he continues. "Bugs, glitches, perf fixes. One last pass through audio. 12-15 hour days. This is gaming. Hard work. Lunch, dinner working. You do it cause ya luv it."

Such a weird coincidence how the guy bragging about how his team works 6-7 days a week for 12-15 hours a day because they love it also happens to be the guy who controls all their salaries, titles, and current employment statusSeptember 3, 2022

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Bloomberg journalist Jason Schrierer called out what he called "crunch culture defined" and challenged Schofield on his statement.

"This, from a studio head, is crunch culture defined," Schrierer said. "Of course nobody is 'forced' to work insane hours. But imagine the reduced bonuses and lack of promotion opportunities if you don’t? 'You do it because you love it'. Weaponized passion. This is why people burn out of gaming.

"Such a weird coincidence how the guy bragging about how his team works 6-7 days a week for 12-15 hours a day because they love it also happens to be the guy who controls all their salaries, titles, and current employment status," he said later in the thread.

A few hours after deleting the tweet, Schofield apologized.

Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about the people I work with. Earlier I tweeted how proud I was of the effort and hours the team was putting in. That was wrong. We value passion and creativity, not long hours. I’m sorry to the team for coming across like this.September 3, 2022

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"Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about the people I work with," he tweeted. "Earlier I tweeted how proud I was of the effort and hours the team was putting in. That was wrong. We value passion and creativity, not long hours. 

"I’m sorry to the team for coming across like this."

The Callisto Protocol is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on December 2, 2022.