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Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99Subscribe now Essential Hardware Abiotic Factor Dune: Awakening PC Gaming Show Recommended reading Gaming Industry Romero Games' new shooter loses funding, the studio may be closing, and it looks like Microsoft is to blame 7 years on, CliffyB is 'still bitter' about people gravedancing when his studio Boss Key failed: 'It was amazing at first and then, well, it broke me for a good long while' Gaming Industry John Romero says indies are the future of game development: 'These people are the ones that make triple-A studios go, 'Wait a minute, we need to start doing this'' Romero Games reportedly met with Microsoft just a day before the publisher pulled funding for the studio, and there was 'no mention' of the decision that put over 100 people out of work Gaming Industry 'There has to be a better way than this': Game developers call Microsoft's latest layoffs 'a colossal waste of talent' from a publisher that seems like it's in 'a death spiral' Gaming Industry Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games set to lay off another 36 employees after a 'redundancy consultation process', delays Directive 8020 to 2026 Gaming Industry Hypnospace Outlaw sequel Dreamsettler has been cancelled: 'We just way overscoped' Gaming Industry 'Maybe I’ve directed my last game,' Dead Space creator Glen Schofield says after being unable to secure funding for his new project: 'With the industry on pause, AAA feels like it's a long ways away' Andy Chalk 28 July 2025 After working "quietly" on a new horror game for the past eight months, Schofield says he's walking away. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: PUBG Corp) After a long career in videogames that took him from Ren and Stimpy and Rocky and Bullwinkle to Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol (seriously, check his credits), Glen Schofield might have finally reached the end of the line. In a message posted to LinkedIn (via VGC), Schofield said he'd been working on a new idea but "decided to walk away" after he couldn't raise the funding he was looking for, and admitted that "maybe I've directed my last game." Schofield said he'd been "quietly" working on the project, which he described as "a new sub-genre of horror—not just horror, but something more" for the past eight months. A development budget of $17 million was set, "a small, talented crew" put together a prototype, and Schofield "started taking meetings." "People loved the concept," he wrote. "We got a lot of second and third meetings. But early feedback was 'get [the budget] to $10M.' Lately, that number’s dropped to $2–5M. Related Articles Romero Games' new shooter loses funding, the studio may be closing, and it looks like Microsoft is to blame 7 years on, CliffyB is 'still bitter' about people gravedancing when his studio Boss Key failed: 'It was amazing at first and then, well, it broke me for a good long while' John Romero says indies are the future of game development: 'These people are the ones that make triple-A studios go, 'Wait a minute, we need to start doing this'' "So last month, we decided to walk away. Some ideas are better left untouched than done cheap. We had a team of six here in the States and a full crew in the UK. Now, everyone’s looking for work. They're all talented folks—if you're hiring, let me know." You might think that as the head guy on Dead Space, Schofield would have no trouble scrounging up a few million dollars for a new horror game. But the industry has changed over the past few years, which is to say it's been ruthlessly hollowed out in an all-consuming pursuit of slightly higher share prices and AI panacea. Even strong bets are on very shaky ground these days: Recall, for instance, that earlier this month Romero Games lost funding for the new FPS it was working on. If John Romero can't get backing to make a new shooter, what hope do any of the rest of us have? And, in all fairness, the bloom may be off Schofield's rose at this point. Dead Space remains a seminal horror game but The Callisto Protocol, released in 2022, landed with a thud thanks to technical problems and, amusingly, a little too much in the gore department. Publisher Krafton took a hit on it, and while a story expansion dropped in mid-2023, layoffs at developer Striking Distance Studios inevitably followed. Schofield himself left the studio in September 2023. "I've worked on games of every size," Schofield wrote. "From two of us to over 300 devs. Spent the last 15–20 years making big AAA titles with great teams. That's what I do. That's what I love. But with the industry on pause, AAA feels like it's a long ways away. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. "So I'm back to my art. I miss it all; the team, the chaos, the joy of building something for fans. I'm still around, making art, writing stories and ideas and still cheering the industry on. But maybe I've directed my last game. Who knows? If so thank you for playing my games." It's not known how many developers have been left unemployed by the decision to stop work on the project, but Schofield said his daughter Nicole—who actually came up with the idea for the new game—was among them. She was previously employed at Striking Distance, where she worked as an environment artist on The Callisto Protocol and the top-down shooter Redacted, which launched in October 2024. Best PC gaming kit 2025All our favorite gear 👉Check out our list of guides👈 1. Best gaming chair: Secretlab Titan Evo 2. Best gaming desk: Secretlab Magnus Pro XL 3. Best gaming headset: HyperX Cloud Alpha 4. Best gaming keyboard: Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless 5. Best gaming mouse: Razer DeathAdder V3 HyperSpeed 6. Best PC controller: Xbox Wireless Controller 7. Best steering wheel: Logitech G Pro Racing Wheel 8. Best microphone: Shure MV6 USB Gaming Microphone 9. Best webcam: Elgato Facecam MK.2 The Callisto Protocol Social Links Navigation US News Lead Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Romero Games' new shooter loses funding, the studio may be closing, and it looks like Microsoft is to blame 7 years on, CliffyB is 'still bitter' about people gravedancing when his studio Boss Key failed: 'It was amazing at first and then, well, it broke me for a good long while' John Romero says indies are the future of game development: 'These people are the ones that make triple-A studios go, 'Wait a minute, we need to start doing this'' Romero Games reportedly met with Microsoft just a day before the publisher pulled funding for the studio, and there was 'no mention' of the decision that put over 100 people out of work 'There has to be a better way than this': Game developers call Microsoft's latest layoffs 'a colossal waste of talent' from a publisher that seems like it's in 'a death spiral' Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games set to lay off another 36 employees after a 'redundancy consultation process', delays Directive 8020 to 2026 Latest in Gaming Industry Roblox CEO horrifies every parent alive with his ambition that the platform become a dating hub, even if he promises age verification: 'A virtual date to start, and then if they connect, move to the physical world' Visa and Mastercard pressuring Itch.io and Valve does 'nothing to protect' women, and shock games will just be 'side-stepping the ban entirely', say affected indie devs Sony acquires a slice of the Bandai Namco pie, snagging a stake in Elden Ring Gabe Newell on the difference between billionaires and the rest of us: 'an awful lot of luck' The first 'real videogame' Gabe Newell played was Star Trek, where you made your choices via punch cards before running over to the printer: 'It usually takes about 15 minutes to do a move' The young Gabe Newell thought he'd be a doctor until he ended up visiting his brother at Microsoft, where 'Steve Ballmer got mad and said 'If you're going to be hanging out here, why don't you do something useful?'' 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