Gaming these days is a budget, and consumers want value for money. For their part, developers want to find ways to continue to monetize their games. That’s a big part of why Season Passes, cosmetic DLCs, and other extra content are so common.
In this logic, The Callisto Protocol is intended to be a game that will keep players coming back regularly through additional content. But for a horror game with a linear story, that’s no easy task.
A full service game?
During an interview with the site TrueTrophies when Gamescom 2022Mark James, technical director of Striking Distance Studiossaid The Callisto Protocol will get a full year of support after launch.
” We consider [The Callisto Protocol] as a full service game and we will invest in DLCs. We expect a full year of support after the game is released.
We like to think of it as a franchise. All developers, when creating new IP, like to think of it as an investment in a franchise. Creating new IP is very expensive, so we want to try to get the most out of it. »
Mark James’s words are quite unclear and frankly open to interpretation, and he did not give concrete details regarding this concept of “full service game”.
Because if it is not possible to offer a monthly subscription with regular additional content on a linear horror game, it is quite possible to release the title close to an episodic format : the basic game and the DLC are ready, or almost, and they will be released over a year, to make The Callisto Protocol a game on which we will come back for a year. This is only a hypothesis, of course.
An expandable world
” We left the world expandable. We’ve created a world that can tell different stories, and so we can either tell those stories through DLC or tell those stories through later products. explains Mark James.
James also said that the DLC could introduce “different modes”, some of which could be inspired by “other survival horror titles”. He then gave an example of where he envisions the series going:
” For now, we have a linear story mode. […] We can still tell the whole story of the outbreak in the prison without even touching the linear story. »
James’ speech is rather vague and to be completely transparent, we’re not sure we’ve understood all the ins and outs of his development strategy for The Callisto Protocol. One thing is certain, however, and that is that we are even more excited to see the finished product. Hoping it’s finished…
The Callisto Protocol will be released December 2, 2022 on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC.