American game designer
For the film director, see Michel Gondry
Michael Condrey is the co-founder and former studio head of Sledgehammer Games, 9️⃣ which he founded with Glen Schofield after their collaboration on the popular video game franchise Dead Space. He is now 9️⃣ the president of 31st Union, a 2K studio located in Silicon Valley, California.[1][2]
Career [ edit ]
Condrey graduated in 1997 from 9️⃣ the University of Washington. The following year, his senior thesis on applying biotechnology to conservation biology was published in the 9️⃣ Molecular Ecology. After working as a scuba diving instructor and boat captain in the Cayman Islands, he began work on 9️⃣ a graduate degree in Seattle. It was there that he launched his game development career, beginning with a summer job 9️⃣ at Electronic Arts (EA) during the peak of Seattle's gaming explosion. Condrey later relocated to Redwood City at the EA-owned 9️⃣ studio Visceral Games, where he became studio chief operations officer, as well as senior development director on the 2008 title 9️⃣ Dead Space. He also worked on three other successful EA franchises: Need for Speed, FIFA and the James Bond game 9️⃣ series.[2][3]
Condrey (right) and Glen Schofield at the Sledgehammer headquarter, 2009
In November 2009, Condrey and his Visceral Games colleague Glen Schofield 9️⃣ founded Sledgehammer Games, a subsidiary of Activision operating under the company's independent studio model.[4] Condrey likened the opportunity to work 9️⃣ with Activision and Call of Duty to a baseball player having a call from the New York Yankees or a 9️⃣ filmmaker hearing from Steven Spielberg[3] After an initial attempt to create their own Call of Duty title, Condrey and Schofield 9️⃣ collaborated with Infinity Ward on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The game grossedR$1 billion in worldwide sales in its 9️⃣ first 16 days[5] and took the Best Shooter prize at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards.[6] The following year, the 9️⃣ game was named Game Design of the Year at the Korea Games Conference and won the Global Award from Japan 9️⃣ Game Awards 2012 at the Tokyo Game Show.[7]
Condrey and Schofield left their roles at Sledgehammer in February 2024, taking up 9️⃣ executive positions within Activision.[8] Condrey subsequently left Activision in December 2024 to help establish a new, 2K Games studio under 9️⃣ Take Two Interactive near San Francisco in January 2024.[9] The studio name was announced in February 2024 as 31st Union, 9️⃣ along with announcing a second location to open in Spain.[10]
Game credits [ edit ]
Industry perspective [ edit ]
Condrey has expressed 9️⃣ concerns about the industry's focus on the top five blockbuster video game titles, noting that, in 2012, "there are probably 9️⃣ 10 games that should qualify" at that tier, leaving the middle space below as a kind of game purgatory. The 9️⃣ result, he said, has created more innovation for other platforms, genres and business models, including Apple's iOS operating system, freemium 9️⃣ business models and social-network games. "Across the industry," Condrey said in a GamesIndustry International interview, "it's as exciting as I've 9️⃣ ever seen it in terms of innovation and trying new things out."[5]
Condrey has also discussed the role of microtransactions in 9️⃣ video games. In 2024, following his departure from Activision, Condrey criticized Activision's implementation of microtranscations, saying Advanced Warfare "launched only 9️⃣ with rewarded Supply Drops." and that the team "were driven by, and at the service of, providing fans more ways" 9️⃣ to "express achievements", further saying "$30 for a melee weapon? Not on my watch."[11][12]
