Glen Schofield has announced his retirement after a 35-year career in the industry.
“The past couple of decades have been some of the greatest times in video games,” Schofield said in a video posted to LinkedIn.
“Some of the best games have come out over these times, [from] some of the greatest talent in the world I’ve been able to work with. I thank you all. I had a front row seat to one of the greatest creative explosions in history.”
He continued: “To EA, thank you for letting me make Dead Space, Activision, you gave me the keys to three Call of Duty games, and I really appreciate your trust.”
“This is an amazing industry, with so many talented people, and I know times are tough right now, but the future is really, really bright. I wish you all, the next generation of game makers, the best of luck.”
In an interview with GamesBeat earlier this year, Schofield stated that he decided to retire after completing The Callisto Protocol.
“It was the hardest development in my life,” he said. “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’ve had a great time, I’ve had a fantastic career. It seems like an inflexion point in the industry. A time for the next generation to emerge and do their own thing.”
In addition to his work on Dead Space, three Call of Duty titles, and The Callisto Protocol, Schofield directed games in the Gex and Legacy of Kain franchises at Crystal Dynamics.
He served as vice president and general manager of Visceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores), co-founded Sledgehammer Games, and was founder and CEO of Striking Distance Studios.
Schofield left Striking Distance Studios in 2023 to “pursue new opportunities.”
Earlier this year, we spoke with Schofield about potential solutions for challenges facing the AAA industry.
“All I’m hearing is that we have to make development cheaper. We have to spend less money and we have to do it with fewer people. One word I don’t hear in any of that is ‘creativity’. You have to be creative 99% of the time.”