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Glen Schofield, the director of games like Gex: Enter the Gecko, Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol, and the co-director on three Call of Duty games, has announced his retirement after 35 years working in the games industry.
In a video message posted on LinkedIn, Schofield thanked his friends and family, former colleagues, as well as Electronic Arts and Activision, for their support over the years, saying "the past couple of decades have been some of the greatest times in video games" and that he was lucky enough to witness "one of the greatest creative explosions in history."
Schofield originally started his career in games back in the early '90s at Imagineering, the game division of Absolute Entertainment, and would later go on to work at studios like Capcom USA, where he'd work on games like Street Fighter: The Movie, and a cancelled adaptation of White Wolf Publishing's Werewolf: The Apocalypse. From there, he later went to work for Crystal Dynamics, directing Gex: Enter the Gecko and Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko, and Blood Omen 2, before joining Electronic Arts, where he directed the original Dead Space.
Leaving Electronic Arts, he would later found Sledgehammer Games, and would go on to co-direct three Call of Duty entries — Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Advanced Warfare, and WWII — before departing Sledgehammer to form a new company, Striking Distance Studios, which was responsible for the Dead Space spiritual successor, The Callisto Protocol.
Speaking to Time Extension back in 2023, Schofield said the following about his entry into games: "A friend of mine at the time, Mike Sullivan, called and said Absolute was looking for a computer artist. Mike and I learned computer art together at a place called Digital Learning Systems, where we created animated tutorials for IBM, ATT, Panasonic, and Tandy (Radio Shack) personal computers. I went in for an interview at Absolute, where Garry Kitchen asked me to work for free for two weeks creating a couple of levels for a potential Wizard of Oz game. I had a crash course in using D-paint. After working those two weeks for free, I got the job. I think I was employee number 14.
"I designed the levels and created the art tiles [on Game Girl]. Back then the artist was the designer too. I don’t remember following the NES that much at all. I studied Barbie in the toy stores and bought a couple of dolls; I just wanted to do a great job because I was the new guy. The other artists thought it would be a big joke to give the new guy (me) the Barbie Game Girl. But I didn’t care."
In his video statement on LinkedIn, Schofield said, "After 35 years of making games and directing them, running teams, it’s time for me to officially retire from the day-to-day work. It’s been such an amazing career. And I have so many people to thank for it that I can’t possibly do it on here. But to my close friends and family and people who stood by me, patted me on the back, listened to my crazy ideas, thank you so much.
"To the fans, man, you supported me. You let mine and my team’s games into your homes. You told me when I was good, and you told me when I wasn’t so good, but you made me better. Thank you so much. And, to my peers and my fellow developers, the past couple of decades have been some of the greatest times in video games. Some of the best games have come out over these times. Some of the greatest talent in the world I’ve been able to work with."
In the statement, Schofield didn't give his reasons for why he decided to retire now, but in an exclusive interview with Dean Takahashi, from Gamesbeat, said the following about his decision:
"I took some time off after finishing Callisto, which was an extremely hard development because of COVID. We just worked through it. It was the hardest development in my life. I didn’t think anything could be harder than Lord of the Rings, but that one was. During that time–I’ve always been painting and drawing and doing all that stuff. I picked up sculpting. I’m painting. I’m drawing. As I’m thinking during this, I’m like, “I don’t know if I can do the day-to-day anymore.”
I had gotten in shape. I was losing weight. My purpose was to be in shape to go do the next game. I just had back surgery a couple months ago. I realized that as I get older, I’m not going to have the stamina, I don’t think. It’s not necessarily that. But I think my time is–I’ve had a great time. I’ve had a fantastic career. It seems like an inflection point in the industry. A time for the next generation to emerge and do their own thing. I see a lot of my peers retiring too."
If you want a more complete overview of Schofield's, you can read the full Gamesbeat interview here.