As with all games with expansion packs,The Callisto Protocol’s season pass will include new content that builds on the base game. By purchasing the deluxe edition of the game, players get access to a season pass that includes new costumes for lead protagonist Jacob Lee, a new Riot mode that pits Jacob against hordes of enemies, a Contagion mode that serves asThe Callisto Protocol’s hardest difficulty with reduced resource drops and permadeath, and new story content. Players have a lot to look forward to after the game launches, but what currently has people in a twist is that the season pass will also include extra death animations for Jacob.
TheCallistodevelopers at Striking Distance Studiosare no strangers to death animations. A lot of them have worked on theDead Spacefranchise, after all, which is an IP that prides itself on the many ways it can present grisly death. However, the death animations themselves add very little to the experience and will likely be avoided by the majority of those who want to playThe Callisto Protocolto completion.
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Confusion Around Callisto Protocol’s Season Pass
The death animation debacle began when IGN posted an article aboutThe Callisto Protocol’s season pass including new death animations. It wasn’t clearly stated that the extra death animations were for the upcoming downloadable content and not for the main game – a fact thatCallistodirectorGlen Schofieldcorrected via Twitter. Both the Riot and Contagion modes deliver brand-new content, so it only makes sense that the developers would create new animations for them. The same goes for the yet-unnamed story content, which will no doubt bring players to new places and allow them to combat different foes and obstacles.
Schofield also went on to mention that the season pass content hasn’t begun production yet, as Striking Distance Studios will formally begin working on it next year. This means thatThe Callisto Protocolplayers will experience come December 2 will be the complete base game. So, to make things clear, the “new death animations” that are advertised onThe Callisto Protocol’s season passare for the new content only and not for the main campaign.
Death Animations Are Just One Part of Callisto Protocol
Another point of contention is the importance of death animations.Just likeDead Spacebefore it,The Callisto Protocol’s death animations look like they’re purely intended to add to the game’s horror value. There aren’t mechanical benefits to collecting lots of unique deaths. Death animations may add to the players' immersion while they are exploring a dangerous space prison, but it ultimately isn’t the be-all, end-all of the experience.
Some might wonder ifthe time spent working onThe Callisto Protocol’s death animationscould be better utilized elsewhere. The aforementioned game modes and extra story content could have been added to the base game instead of being bundled as extra DLC that players have to pay for separately. Through it helps the company generate more revenue,The Callisto Protocolexperience could have been more complete from the get-go. Other impressive games like 2018’sGod of Warlaunch as complete experiences, so players who have to pay more for their games might be a tad disheartened.
Regardless, the long and short of it is that elaborate death animations inThe Callisto Protocolare going nowhere. Players who were worried about being shorthanded by buying the base game will be glad to know that the death animations included are those that were made specifically for the main campaign. Regardless of how one might feel about the emphasis on these animations, one cannot deny thatThe Callisto Protocolwill be a darker and gorier gamebecause of the many ways Jacob Lee can die on-screen.
The Callisto Protocolreleases on August 02, 2025 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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