The Callisto Protocol Performance Issues Were a 'Damn Clerical Error" Per Studio CEO

From IGN: "The Callisto Protocol’s stuttering issues are due to a “damn clerical error,” according to Striking Distance Studios CEO Glen Schofield.

In a string of separate replies on Twitter, Schofield explained that at launch, the wrong file was patched in for The Callisto Protocol and that the error occurred because someone was in a rush. “I’ll figure out how this happened but right now my focus is fixing. All our energy is on that. In the end, I’m responsible and accountable,” Schofield said."

[Hofstaderman]

Clerks play a role in actual programming? Even so where was the Q and A prior to release???

[Snookies12]

It seems Q&A has long since been abandoned now that everything can just be "fixed" with patches after launch, lol.

[Dandizzle]

has nothing to do with QA, QA identified the problem and it was fixed. The fixed code was not merged to the main branch for final submission, QA did their job. Just because there are bugs doesn't mean its QAs fault, often hundreds of hundreds of bugs are found and cataloged then the fixes are prioritized by management which is more focused on deadlines than quality in most cases. Thus you get issues like these. My point being the sole fault lies with management.

[Dandizzle]

Q&A stands for Questions and Answers......... QA stands for Quality Assurance. Two completely different and unrelated things.

[Snookies12]

@Dandizzle - Okay, my bad? Had a brain fart, what can I say? But even if things were reported, and not fixed. Then that is still an issue of Quality Assurance for the company or developer as a whole. So... My point still stands in terms of QA for gaming in general.

[SullysCigar]

Q&A is often done AFTER release now and - here's the rub - you actually work in Q&A. We all do. And we pay them for the privilege.

[Dandizzle]

Q&A= Questions and Answers which is when the audience asks questions of people on stage.

QA= Quality Assurance which is a part of the software development cycle.

[SullysCigar]

^ Any acronym is entirely dependent on the context it's used in and often differs between industries and even companies.

You understood my point. Don't be that guy.

[Christopher]

What he's saying is that the wrong version of some code was put into production, possibly due to code override in the repository update process. Clerical isn't the right term, but I understand what he means.

Not saying I back this reasoning. Regardless of what happened, it's 100% on them and part of QA is validating production.

[Dandizzle]

let me explain what he is saying, QA found issues i.e. performance problem. They fixed it. When merging fixed code with the main branch the said fix was not properly packaged into the final build for submission. This is not unheard or unrealistic when your studio is heavily under crunch for months at a time.
I can almost guarantee you the person who messed up was probably over worked and exhausted. This clerical error is a result of unforgiving deadlines and brutal crunch (poor upper management), so lets give them the benefit of the doubt and cut them a break, the proper fix will get out fast Im sure.

[JokerBoy129]

Funny how this "error" didn't affect PlayStation at all...

[mandf]

Different team for different platforms

[sinspirit]

And I'm sure that since they had Sony devs working with them that they personally tested their version and approved it.

[curtain_swoosh]

big conspiracy brain right there.
l

[Binarycode]

Apparently the Clerk was an MS employee who was meant to sabotage the PS5, He did the wrong versions.

[NotoriousWhiz]

Actually the clerk was an Nintendo employee, but in typical Nintendo fashion, he only half did his job.

[Christopher]

Different repositories.

[Thundercat77]

Sony sent 150 employees to support the PS5 version.

[1Victor]

Funny how this "error" didn't affect PlayStation at all...
And I'm sure that since they had Sony devs working with them that they personally tested their version and approved it.

Took long enough for someone to say that 👆 I was expecting it to be first post 🤷🏿.
Anyways they should do something about the crunch and over exertion of developers in video games something in the likes of mangas could work where they now give the mangakan a week off.
In the end the stigma of a delayed game is a bad game is to blame for, we all need to understand that the developers are people too and can do mistakes when overwhelmed with work

[crazyCoconuts]

gotta respect his candor. Nice that he's owning it, and that it should be fixed soon

[HyperMoused]

Hes not owning it, "its a clerical error" is not owning it, and its obvious whats happening as its a huge problem and a major complaint, owning it would be saying we messed up we are fixing it, not those damn clerks yeah its someone elses fault but im fixing it.

[UltimateOwnage]

Blah blah. Stuff happens, and in many ways it’s magnified on bigger teams. You can bet they didn’t want a launch like this to result in being review bombed due to performance hiccups.

[ChubbyBlade]

You think it’s the ceo who applies the proper updates? Someone at the studio fucked up and he’s saying that. That person is likely to be fired.

[HyperMoused]

@chubbyblade no but they employ crunch which hes also blaming it on.

[anast]

It's mismanagement. The managers of this project need to be audited. They make way too much money and they charge way too much money for things like this to happen.

[HyperMoused]

Indeed these people are on millions a year and then they cry game prices need to rise.

[ROCKY28]

Glenn has always been full of Shyte !

[EvertonFC]

You`re full of shite.

[Christopher]

We're all full of sheite?

[SullysCigar]

^ Not me, Chris, I've just finished one.

[RedDevils]

Go take a shite.

[VariantAEC]

@SullysCigar
The last one before your colonoscopy? That's when you're really empty.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Translation: Somebody ass about to get fired!!!

[guacman88]

Literally logged in after a long time to say this is facts 🤣🤣🤣. That's exactly what I was thinking while reading what he was saying. Lol

[CobraKai]

How I would’ve worded it
“The issue has been found, isolated, and is in the process of getting fixed….”
All good though. I asked for the PS5 version for Christmas so hopefully one of my kids gets one for me.

[Destiny1080]

we patched in the error to make playstation look good

[jznrpg]

PS looks good all on it’s own ..

[Christopher]

"Because we don't like selling copies of games on a specific platform that would generate more revenue for us..."

Not the best tin foil hat scenario you're creating there. Businesses don't want to hurt their bottom line.

[darksky]

Some people have yet to work in the real world it seems. These fanboys will eventually realize that no business is going to sabotage a product just to make another console look good. It is simply financial suicide to do that.

[AuraAbjure]

"Not the best tin foil had scenario you're creating there."

Lol, good one Christopher.

[CobraKai]

Right. “Let’s invest lots of money into producing the game on other platforms, but also make sure they fail”
Illogical from a business sense. Thinking like this is the gaming equivalent of the flat earth nonsense.

[MadLad]

@darksky

You never know. I'm a little on the fence about this little conspiracy theory, but I do find it interesting that Sony had a strong hand in supporting development of the game, and it's clearly the best place to play it right now.

Who is to say that there wasn't a money deal involved; let alone the assistance we know was happening?
Keep the Playstation the place to play when the game first launches; maximizing sales on that platform, then roll out patches for the other platforms and see sales there.

It's not out of the realm of possibility, by any means.
I'm not as saying it's the case, but I can highly believe current gen Sony would try to pull that sort of thing.

[Vizigoth04]

Can I just say I’m having fun with it and am enjoying so far. Combat is just fine if you combine all your tools ⚒️

[EvertonFC]

Great game, I have just started my second playthrough which is RARE for me to do straight away.

[mastershredder]

Blame it on the admins lol. That's rich. Oh man, these jackazzes made some bank on this one. Never go full Gearbox.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

Well gotta give him credit at least he actually owned up to it taking responsibility as head of the studio.

[Espangerish]

I’d be willing to bet that his ‘taking responsibility’ will end with him keeping his job and the admin getting fired.

[ChubbyBlade]

Yes. That’s how it works. The person who applies the proper updates before release didn’t do their job.

If every company owner stepped down for someone below them making a mistake, every studio would shut down.

[MadLad]

Not really.
It was already very obvious the game had issues on multiple platforms.

This is just a CEO of a new games company saving face after a poor release of their first game shifting the blame to whatever "damn low level employee". Real CEOs own the mistake of their company and employees. It's their job to steer the ship in the right direction, and make sure their games are being managed properly.

[Tzuno]

He's lying, he knows exactly what have they done, damage control atm

[MadLad]

Eyup.
Even if not, he's the one who is supposed to be overlooking all aspects of the project. If you happened to higher poor talent ... that's on you.

If you failed to notice glaring issues with a game you went gold with ... that's on you.

[jznrpg]

Sounds like bullshit to me . Coding could be and seems to be messed up but don’t call it a clerical error .

[Fonsecap]

I can't recall, on older generations, so many AAA games with so many bugs, graphical issues, I'm so fed up with developers hyping the games and then they don't deliver a good, "unbuged" game so we can experience it with no issues day one. This is the reason that I don't pre order any game nowadays.

[Stanjara]

Absolute nonsense. They patched the game with the right files and game still has problems.
As I understand shader compilation is the problem and unreal engine is the culprit.

Only fix is to have shaders compile before you start the game... Having that first load last for about half an hour or more.

You would have smooth experience after, but they figured, who would wait for that long to start the game.

Consoles are fixed hardware so compiling is calculated in development... then Included in the gold version of the game.

Correct me if I missed something.

[Ben Dover]

Yes, you missed me.

[Stanjara]

You are something.

[Thundercat77]

The Shuttering Protocol...

[Braindeadninja]

It's amazing how Sony release it game which are technical masterpiece and yet there are zero shutters or frame drops.

[HeliosHex]

I feel bad for Schofield this game was suppose to be his big comeback. Shame the game has more issues than just a bad code.
Still no one does sci-fi horror better at the moment. I hope he learned from all the mistakes on this game so the next one is everything he intended this one to be.

[AJM]

Wtf, the first boss fight is insanely difficult, one even struggle on easy mode. What is going on devs seriously??????

[Good-Smurf]

Not a good excuse, they knew they can be sorry and fix later same old shitty cycle in almost every game nowadays.
They released this ahead of Dead Space Remake to have any chance capitalizing on the ongoing hype of that game even if they have to rushed it and they knew it.
Good thing Sony helped them at their PS5 version or this would have been a lot worse across the board.

[NapalmSanctuary]

Stupid clerics