Putting together a new development team and releasing a new IP is a real challenge, now more than ever, but it seems like Krafton's investors didn't care about such hardships, as the publisher's stock went down due to The Callisto Protocol's Metacritic score.
As reported by Serkan Toto on Twitter, Krafton's stock went down by 8.41% in Seoul today, the day the publisher's survival horror game launched worldwide, and reviews went live for a mid-70s Metacritic score, a score that was deemed too low by investors who expected The Callisto Protocol to become another smashing success for the company that released PUBG.
Stock in Krafton, the company behind The Callisto Protocol studio Striking Distance, closed down -8.41% today in Seoul.
TCP's metacritic score is in the mid 70s, apparently too low for Krafton investors who were hoping the IP could become a new pillar for the PUBG company.
— Dr. Serkan Toto / Kantan Games Inc. (@serkantoto) December 2, 2022
The Callisto Protocol's middling Metacritic score seems wholly deserved, as the horror elements are not enough to carry the whole experience, as highlighted by Kai in his PlayStation 5 review. The PC version doesn't fare much better due to massive performance issues highlighted by Alessio.
While an incredible looker in screenshots and death scenes, The Callisto Protocol suffers from a lack of intriguing content that makes the twelve-plus hour journey through Black Iron Prison worth two, even perhaps one single playthrough. Crafting and skill trees are both minimal in nature (with both costing a heavy amount of credits where players might only be able to fully upgrade two or three weapons in the full playthrough) while melee combat and combat encounters as a whole feel largely scripted. The horror elements stand out as reason alone to play Striking Distance's debut horror game, but you might want to find yourself getting thrown back into Black Iron Prison rather than see the journey through to the end.
The Callisto Protocol is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S worldwide.
In this narrative-driven, third-person survival horror game set 300 years in the future, the player will take on the role of Jacob Lee – a victim of fate thrown into Black Iron Prison, a maximum-security penitentiary located on Jupiter's moon, Callisto. When inmates begin to transform into monstrous creatures, the prison is thrown into chaos. To survive, Jacob must battle his way to safety to escape Black Iron Prison, while uncovering the dark and disturbing secrets buried beneath the surface of Callisto. Using a unique blend of shooting and close-quarters combat, Jacob will need to adapt his tactics to combat the rapidly evolving creatures while scavenging to unlock new weapons, gear, and abilities to outrun the growing threat and escape the horrors of Jupiter's Dead Moon.
