Striking Distance Studios’ debut game, The Callisto Protocol, has reportedly failed to hit its sales targets, forcing Krafton’s investors to “lower their target stock prices”.
That’s according to a translated article from Korean site MK Odyssey, which says the action horror – which cost 200 billion won (£132m / $161.5m) to make over three years – has affected parent company Krafton’s value “due to sales shortages”.
According to Samsung Securities, Krafton expected to shift five million copies of The Callisto Protocol, but with just two million copies sold thus far, the stockbroker now thinks it “will not be easy” to hit that milestone.
That, coupled with the game’s mixed reception – which the article blames on Callisto’s single-player approach and truncated running time – has sent Krafton’s share price tumbling.
“Ultimately, the Callisto Protocol’s frenzied action and brutal battles have still impressed me in all the right ways, drawing on all that makes Dead Space brilliant and building upon that impressive framework,” I wrote in my review of The Callisto Protocol, which was played on PS5 during which I experienced no performance issues whatsoever.
“Dead Space comparisons are impossible to avoid – but while The Callisto Protocol’s missing some of the depth and tension, it makes up for it with production value and bloody-minded fun.”
Multiple former Striking Distance employees have not been credited for their work on The Callisto Protocol, a decision described as “egregious” by one developer.