Call of Duty, Dead Space veteran joins PUBG team to lead a new studio

PUBG Corporation, the developer behind the popular PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, is spinning up a new development studio. Helming the project is industry veteran Glen Schofield, co-founder of Sledgehammer Games. The new studio is called Striking Distance, and it’s based in San Ramon, California.

Schofield was most recently front and center for the launch of Call of Duty: WWII in 2017, which he co-directed and produced. Prior to that he filled a similar role on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. He’s also credited with leading the creation and development of Dead Space.

The addition of a new development studio is part of a pattern of change and expansion for PUBG Corporation. Previously, the company spun out of Bluehole, a South Korean developer and publisher known for its massively multiplayer games. Bluehole itself has since been reformed as Krafton Game Union. Now a multinational corporation, it’s clearly flexing its muscles by bringing on a heavy hitter like Schofield.

In a video posted today on Twitter, Schofield was shown appealing directly to fans of PUBG. But he was also clearly reaching out to potential employees eager to join his team.

“Freedom to explore the PUBG universe has me excited about the possibilities,” Schofield said, “which we view as beyond battle royale.”

“That vision is taken to the next level as our development and service portfolio expands and diversifies with Glen Schofield and Striking Distance,” said PUBG Corporation’s CEO, C.H. Kim. “We are thrilled to welcome Glen to the company. His unique blend of proven leadership and boundless creativity will help us create great synergy.”

Further evidence of PUBG’s attempts to diversify include reassigning the creator of its keystone franchise. In March, Brendan Greene, the Irish expatriate who created PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, left that game’s development team where he served as director. Since that time he’s been involved with a new internal group called PUBG Special Projects.