A former Call of Duty developer has joined the studio behind PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. In a tweet published earlier today, Sledgehammer Games co-founder Glen Schofield was confirmed as the CEO of a new studio, Striking Distance, which will exist under parent company PUBG Corp.
In a video published this afternoon (which you can check out for yourself further down this article), Schofield said that “I’m happy to announce that I’ve just joined PUBG Corp as CEO of a new independent games studio called Striking Distance. We’re working together to build the studio from the ground up, so we can begin crafting an original narrative experience in the PUBG universe.”
Schofield says that he’s looking to take what he’s learned from his time at Sledgehammer – where he shipped three Call of Duty games – “to explore new designs and concepts.” He also says that he sees possibilities within the game’s universe as “beyond battle royale,” implying that the studio will not limit itself to the genre that PUBG Corp helped elevate back in 2017.
In a tweet from his personal account, Schofield said that Striking Distance is “building a AAA game studio,” and will be based in San Ramon, California.
Today we're excited to introduce Striking Distance, a brand new game development studio headed by industry luminary @GlenSchofield. pic.twitter.com/vjkENfT2Jk
— PUBG (@PUBG) June 26, 2019
For now, that’s more or less all the detail we have. Schofield says that he’ll share more when he can, but does confirm that the new game is not a sequel to PUBG. The new studio’s career page points to roles for both single and multiplayer game designers, and asks for experience developing “live-service” games.
Given the studio has only just been announced, and that the majority of hiring is yet to get underway, I imagine anything in the realm of an actual game announcement is still several years away, but I’m interested to see what can be done with the story-telling around the battle royale genre.
Big new! I’m proud and honored to announce that I am now part of PUBG Corporation. Working together, we are building a AAA game studio called Striking Distance in San Ramon, CA.
— Glen A. Schofield (@GlenSchofield) June 26, 2019
Schofield founded Sledgehammer Games alongside Micheal Condrey in 2009. Together, they shipped Modern Warfare 3, Advanced Warfare, and Call of Duty: WWII, before leaving the company for executive roles at Activision in 2018.