Glen Schofield
Glen Schofield is an American video game artist, designer, director, and producer. He was formerly the vice president and general manager at Visceral Games, co-founder of Sledgehammer Games, founder and former CEO of Striking Distance Studios,[1] and the creator and executive producer of the third-person survival horror video game Dead Space.
Glen Schofield | |
|---|---|
 Glen Schofield at the Paris Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie on 22 September 2017 | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Video game designer, producer, programmer |
| Known for | Visceral Games, Sledgehammer Games, Striking Distance Studios |
| Notable work | Dead Space Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare The Callisto Protocol |
| Children | 3 |
Career
Schofield trained in both fine arts and business, earning a BFA from Pratt Institute and an MBA from Golden Gate University. His career began as an artist and art director with the New Jersey video game company Absolute Entertainment. He then relocated to Seattle to join the West Coast's burgeoning video games industry.[2] His professional influences included Asteroids, Moon Patrol, Gunstar Heroes, Disruptor and the Contra series, followed later by Resident Evil, Gears of War, and the franchise he would eventually contribute to, Modern Warfare.[3]
As a vice president at Crystal Dynamics, Schofield headed development on two of the studio's franchises: Gex and Legacy of Kain. Moving to EA Redwood Studios (later Visceral Games) as general manager, he collaborated with Bret Robbins, including the popular Lord of the Rings video series and 007: From Russia with Love.[2]
Schofield's reputation grew with the 2008 title Dead Space, which the magazine Edge called "a work of passionate sci-fi horror that became one of most commercially successful new properties of the year."[4] Schofield has said that the film Event Horizon inspired him to create a game that fused the genres of science fiction and horror. The game's theme of humans in space losing perspective to their place in the universe is influenced by the works of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, after whom the game character Isaac Clarke was named.[5][6]
Schofield, executive producer on the project, worked with Michael Condrey, senior development director. The game launched a franchise of sequels, comics, novels and films, and went on to win more than 80 industry awards, including the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Action Game of the Year and two awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. During his time at EA Redwood Studios, the studio was ranked 17th in the top 50 Game Developers List of 2009 by Game Developer Research.[7] Edge named him one of the Hot 100 Game Developers of 2009.[8][4]
In 2009, Schofield and Condrey created Sledgehammer Games, with Schofield as general manager and Condrey as chief operating officer. They retained those roles when, that November, Activision acquired the company as a wholly owned development studio operating on an independent model.[9]
Schofield was also a storyboard director and created over 100 characters for the animated series The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers.
In June 2019, Schofield announced that he was joining Krafton as the CEO of a new development team called Striking Distance Studios. Under Schofield, the studio will be developing a game with a narrative experience set in the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds's universe.[10][11] The game would later drop this connection in May of 2022, no longer being attached to the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds universe.[12] The Callisto Protocol was revealed at The Game Awards 2020 and planned for release in 2022.[13]
The Callisto Protocol failed to reach its anticipated sales goals, resulting in Schofield voluntarily leaving Striking Distance Studios in September 2023.[14]
Personal life
He is married and has three children, paints in his spare time, and is a habitual exerciser, both cardiovascular and weight training, averaging once a day while on deadline, twice that when not.[3][15]
Games
References
- Schreier, Jason (September 20, 2023). "'Dead Space' Co-Creator Departs Startup After Newest Game Flops". Bloomberg News. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
- Rogers, Bruce (February 21, 2013). "Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey's Sledgehammer Games: Growing the Call of Duty Franchise". Forbes. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
- Figaro, Brittany (August 4, 2011). "True Gamer of the Week: Glen Schofield". GamerFitNation. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- "The Hot 100 Game Developers of 2009". Edge. March 3, 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- Staff, Joystiq (January 22, 2013). "Hit List Q&A: Glen Schofield, co-founder of Sledgehammer Games". Engadget. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- Lee, Jonathan. "'The Callisto Protocol' is Dead Space's blander, buggier little brother". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- "Top 50 Developers 2009". report. Game Developer Research. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- Flemming, Ryan (February 16, 2013). "Inside Sledgehammer Games and the Biggest Gamble You Never Knew About". Digital Trends. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- "Activision Hires Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey to Lead Sledgehammer Games". IGN. November 18, 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- Williams, Mike (June 26, 2019). "PUBG Corp Hires Former Sledgehammer Co-Founder For "Original Narrative Experience"". USGamer. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- Van Allen, Eric (April 1, 2020). "Glen Schofield on Going From Dead Space and Call of Duty to Being Given "Carte Blanche" in the PUBG Universe". USGamer. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- Schofield, Glen [@GlenSchofield] (May 26, 2022). "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" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 19, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022 – via Twitter.
- Kim, Matt T.K. (December 11, 2020). "The Callisto Protocol Wants to be The Scariest Next-Gen Horror Game Ever". IGN. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- Wales, Matt. "Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield departs Callisto Protocol studio after flop". Eurogamer. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
- "About Me". Glen A. Schofield: Fine Art. Personal website. Retrieved 28 November 2012.