American video game development company
Sledgehammer Games, Inc. is an American video game developer company formed in 2009 by Glen Schofield 7️⃣ and Michael Condrey. The pair formerly worked at Visceral Games and are responsible for the creation of Dead Space. The 7️⃣ company is based in Foster City, California.[5] The studio has developed and co-developed various video games in the Call of 7️⃣ Duty series.
History [ edit ]
Sledgehammer Games co-founders Schofield and Condrey worked together at Electronic Arts in 2005 on 007: From 7️⃣ Russia with Love, with Condrey as director and Schofield executive producer. The collaboration carried forward to Dead Space. The two 7️⃣ men had complementary skills and similar backgrounds—middle class with fathers in the construction business.[6][7]
After founding Sledgehammer Games on July 21, 7️⃣ 2009, Schofield and Condrey made Activision a proposal: they would attempt to replicate their success with Dead Space, with a 7️⃣ third-person spin-off of the Call of Duty franchise. Activision sat on the proposal for weeks until Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby 7️⃣ Kotick offered to bring the studio into the Activision fold. Schofield and Condrey accepted, viewing Activision's independent studio model as 7️⃣ an opportunity to preserve the company's creative culture, development methodology and staff, while having the security of an alliance with 7️⃣ the industry's largest publisher.[7][8][9]
Sledgehammer Games spent six to eight months working on the Call of Duty project in 2009, enough 7️⃣ to produce a prototype with about 15 minutes of play.[10] The game would have reportedly expanded the franchise into the 7️⃣ action-adventure genre, and a legal battle between Infinity Ward, the studio behind the Modern Warfare franchise, and co-founders Jason West 7️⃣ and Vince Zampella resulted in the pair's departure. They took several Infinity Ward employees with them to their new company, 7️⃣ leaving Activision with about half the staff and a deadline of about 20 months (versus a typical 24 months) to 7️⃣ complete the next game in the franchise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Activision requested that Sledgehammer Games stop work 7️⃣ on the third-person shooter and collaborate with Infinity Ward instead.[7]
The offer was a gamble for both sides. Activision was calling 7️⃣ on a studio that had not put out a game on its own, while Sledgehammer Games would be abandoning weeks 7️⃣ of work in the genre they were most familiar with to take on a punishing schedule in a franchise. The 7️⃣ studio first polled its staff and got unanimous approval. "It was a massive risk for Schofield and Condrey's new studio, 7️⃣ and one that most outside of the industry never considered", wrote Ryan Fleming in Digital Trends. "The Infinity Ward name 7️⃣ was the marquis on the Modern Warfare franchise, but failure to deliver on Activision's golden egg would have resulted in 7️⃣ a wave that crippled those in its path. Looking back at the success of that game and franchise as a 7️⃣ whole, it is easy to overlook the chance Sledgehammer took."[7]
The collaboration with Infinity Ward marked the first time a co-development 7️⃣ relationship would produce a Modern Warfare title, with both companies' logos appearing on the packaging. Despite the companies’ differing histories 7️⃣ and development methodologies, GamesTM called the arrangement "a rare symbiotic relationship for such a high-profile game". The two teams first 7️⃣ met in the spring of 2010 to compare ideas. There was some overlap: both teams wanted to set the game 7️⃣ in Europe and, recalled Schofield, achieve a “payoff on the story that had been told over the last four years.”[10][11]
Sledgehammer 7️⃣ Games first logo (2009–2024)
It was announced in February 2014 that Sledgehammer Games would be developing a Call of Duty title 7️⃣ slated for release in 2014. On May 1, Game Informer teased an image of a soldier wearing an exo-skeleton suit. 7️⃣ It was also announced that more details, the cover, the full name, and a trailer would be released on May 7️⃣ 4. The trailer was leaked which confirmed the release of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on November 4, 2014.[12][13]
On April 7️⃣ 21, 2024, Sledgehammer Games and Activision announced their next Call of Duty game, titled Call of Duty: WWII. It was 7️⃣ released on November 3, 2024.[14][15]
In February 2024, Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey left Sledgehammer Games but still working with Activision.[16] 7️⃣ In December 2024, Condrey subsequently left Activision to start a career with 2K Games in the Bay Area with 31st 7️⃣ Union. Schofield also left the studio to found Striking Distance.[17]
In 2024, while working with Raven Software on Call of Duty: 7️⃣ Black Ops Cold War, the 2024 entry in the series, the two teams had differing ideas on the game. This 7️⃣ led Call of Duty publisher Activision to bring in fellow developer Treyarch to take over the lead development role for 7️⃣ Black Ops Cold War, while Sledgehammer and Raven Software took on partner roles.[18][19]
Sledgehammer opened a new studio in Melbourne, Australia 7️⃣ by September 2024.[20][21] In May 2024, Sledgehammer Games COO Andy Wilson confirmed that the studio was now a multi-project studio 7️⃣ with over 200 employees, with plans to hire up to 100 new employees over the next year.[22]
In May 2024, Sledgehammer 7️⃣ announced the opening of a new studio in Toronto, Canada.[3][23][24] By August 2024, Sledgehammer Games employed over 450 people, with 7️⃣ over 150 people working at Sledgehammer Games Melbourne and just over 10 people working at Sledgehammer Games Toronto.[1] In October 7️⃣ 2024, Sledgehammer opened a new studio in Guildford in the UK.[25][26] Sledgehammer lead the development of Call of Duty: Vanguard 7️⃣ which was released on November 5, 2024.[27][28]
Following leaks in Q2 of 2024, Sledgehammer would then develop Call of Duty: Modern 7️⃣ Warfare III, the franchise's twentieth release, which was released on November 10, 2024.[29][30]
Operations and culture [ edit ]
Sledgehammer Games operates 7️⃣ out of a "custom-designed" studio with an open-plan space, "high-end" development equipment, and a theater.[10]
As of August 2024, Sledgehammer employs 7️⃣ about 450 people. New employees are given a challenge coin engraved with the Sledgehammer Games' values. The tradition dates back 7️⃣ to a World War I practice of giving soldiers coins with a squadron's insignia that could be used to prove 7️⃣ membership.[7]
Games [ edit ]
