The Callisto Protocolis an upcoming sci-fi survival horror game, developed by brand-new studio Striking Distance. The studio is headed up by Glen Schofield, who previously co-created theDead Spaceseries. However, probably the most unexpected thing aboutThe Callisto Protocolis that it will be set in the universe ofPlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, albeit 300 years into the future.
Fromeverything we know aboutThe Callisto Protocolso far, it would be hard to imagine a game more different toPUBG.The Callisto Protocolwill be single-player, horror-focused, and set in the year 2320. Conversely,PUBGis the multiplayer title that kickstarted the Battle Royale genre’s popularity, and is set in the modern day. However, it’s already been confirmed that the two games share a universe, so how exactly might they connect?
PUBG Lore
Players could be forgiven for thinking thatPUBGwas a game without a story. After all, for its first three Seasons, it didn’t really have one. It was only with the launch of Season 4 that the game received its first story trailer, revealing the backstory of the original Erangel map.
It’s noteworthy that for a 3 year old game, there isn’t that much more information out there aboutPUBG’s story than there is for the unreleasedCallisto Protocol. All we know for certain aboutStriking Distance’s new titleis that it’s set in a prison colony called Black Iron on Jupiter’s moon Callisto. Players will take on the role of a prisoner caught up in the middle of an alien invasion that seems to have been planned by the prison’s warden. For how this could relate to PUBG, we have to take a look at the Battle Royale’s most recent releases.
Mysteries Unknown
One of the biggest leaps forward forPUBG’s story occurred in October 2020. It all began with a mysterious video posted on the officialPUBGtwitter account, along with a brand-new website dedicated to the game’s lore. The video related to the secrets and rumors surrounding Paramo Plateau,PUBG’s sixth map. Before the release of the video, ninePUBGstreamers were sent packages containing fragments of the so-called Paramo Stone. Unfortunately, many of these stones ended up stuck in customs as the streamers attempted to reassemble them, and the complete stone was never deciphered.
However, both the stone and the mysterious video led players into an AR game that revealed more glimpses of the occult lore behind Paramo. Most notable, whenconnecting thePUBGlore to that ofThe Callisto Protocol, were the hints that Paramo was in some way related to the legend of the Fountain of Youth. These snippets of lore were intertwined with Lovecraftian warnings of madness, mystery, and an ancient goddess.
The last of these is also noteworthy, as thesurvival-horror gameThe Callisto Protocolis named for its setting, one of the moons of Jupiter, which is in turn named after a Nymph in Greek/Roman Mythology. In Roman mythology Callisto is seduced by Jupiter, and later punished by his wife Juno by being transformed into a bear.
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Immortality and Transformation
The most interesting parts of the currentPUBGlore that may relate toThe Callisto Protocolall revolve around Paramo. The plateau is clearly steeped in mystery and occultism, and the biggest themes running through its history and design are immortality and transformation. These are both popular themes in sci-fi titles, and it could very well be that they formthe link that tiesPUBGtoThe Callisto Protocol.
An even more popular sci-fi theme is that of ancient aliens. This is the idea that humanity was visited or affected at some point in its distant past by an alien species. As a story device this concept shows up in everything fromMass EffecttoDead Space. The seemingly supernatural events occurring at the Paramo Plateau might actually turn out to be the actions of an alien race, the same race that will later return inThe Callisto Protocol.
The Callisto Protocolwill launch in 2022 for PC and unspecified consoles.
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