Striking Distance Studios, the developer behind last year's sci-fi horror The Callisto Protocol, has laid off 32 employees amid efforts to "realign the studio's priorities".

In a statement provided to IGN, the developer wrote, "Striking Distance Studios and [publisher] Krafton have implemented strategic changes that realign the studio's priorities to better position its current and future projects for success. Unfortunately, these changes have impacted 32 employees. Honouring the invaluable contributions of each departing team member with material support in the form of outplacement services and meaningful severance packages is our top priority during this difficult moment."

As reported by VGC, a number of affected employees began publically discussing the layoffs on social media prior to Striking Distance's official announcement. These included associate level designer Thomas Catalano, VFX artist Matt Christopherson, associate producer Nora Falcon, level design assistant Justin Fields, production coordinator Sebastian Marlow, and senior environment artist Matthew Smith.

The Callisto Protocol released last December, pitching itself as a spiritual successor to EA's much-loved sci-fi horror Dead Space (Striking Distance is lead by Glen Schofield, who co-created that game), but it received a mixed critical reception and lower-than-anticipated sales.

In January, it was reported that Striking Distance owner Krafton had expected to shift five million copies of The Callisto Protocol - which had cost it £132m to make over three years - but was unlikely to hit that target given just two million copies had been sold at the time.

Development on The Callisto Protocol ended in June with the launch of its concluding DLC chapter, Final Transmission.