The director ofThe Callisto Protocolexplains the influence of cartoons, such asSpongeBob SquarePants, on the making of his new horror game. Inspiration can be taken from the most unlikely of places, even if the thing used for inspiration is the polar opposite, such as the difference between a children’s cartoon likeSpongeBob SquarePantsand a gory horror game likeThe Callisto Protocol.
The release ofThe Callisto Protocolis right around the corner, and a season pass with new death animations for theDead Space-inspired game has already been announced. As a result, the marketing forThe Callisto Protocolhas revolved around the realism that is expected from such a game, which has even raised questions aboutThe Callisto Protocol’s"real life horror and gore"used for inspiration. Recently, the director has come out to talk about some of the more light-hearted influences ofThe Callisto Protocol.
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Glauco Longhi, the game’s director most known for his work on horror movie sets, and games likeUncharted 4andGod of War Ragnarok, spoke with The Sun regardingThe Callisto Protocol. In the conversation, he described that the gore is what pulled him to the game and expressed that some inspiration for animations and enemies was taken from cartoons, citingSpongeBobas an example.SpongeBob SquarePantsis one of themost iconic Nickelodeon characters, but even so, using it as inspiration for a horror game may raise a few eyebrows on just how exactly these mediums of entertainment mix.
“Even some cartoons, like SpongeBob. We look at cartoons on stylization and movement because, although it’s super real and immersive, we stylized a lot of things to make them more appealing. So some of the movements, and in the case of the gore, the blood, and how we remove the limbs, there’s a push of style to emphasize some of these actions. Cartoons do that very well. Disney, Pixar, or whatever – they give you the message right away. If there’s a fast character, you get it right away [from the] strong silhouettes.”
Glauco Longhi says that cartoons are a great inspiration for how to emphasize style, as they are designed to communicate a message and feeling that is portrayed immediately to its viewers. So althoughSpongeBob SquarePantsmay be designed to communicate different messages, the same technique can be used for an entirely different medium of entertainment, such as the horror and violence displayed inThe Callisto Protocol. The interview goes into further detail regardingThe Callisto Protocolbody horror and its inspirations, as well as the gameplay realism of its design, but it is certainly interesting to see how something on the completely other end of the entertainment spectrum was used to create this highly anticipated horror game.
It may be that fans of both genres, lighthearted cartoons and horror, will be able to enjoy the upcoming game.The Callisto Protocoltrophy listis now online, and unfortunately, there is nothingSpongeBob SquarePantsrelated. But even so, it is interesting to get first-hand knowledge of how the creative process works for a game of this magnitude.
The Callisto Protocolreleases on June 01, 2025, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
