Question of the Week | 6-17-11

I heard that you guys were pulled from one project to help develop MW3. If this is true, then how hard/easy/confusing was it to get the team rolling on MW3 over the project you had been working on? And will the transition back be just as easy or difficult?

- Joshua Malone

Fullsail University Game Design Student

Hi Joshua, thanks for your question.

Sledgehammer Games was founded in July 2009 as a new Call of Duty development team within the Activision family of independent studios. We initially prototyped a few ideas around an Action Adventure game within the Call of Duty universe. There was a lot of passion and excitement about the idea of expanding into the Action Adventure space and we built a complete playable demo experience proving the validity of the concept.

We were presented the option to co-develop with Infinity Ward, one of the industry's most acclaimed development studios, on the follow up to the critically acclaimed Modern Warfare 2. It was an unexpected opportunity to work with a studio known for their history of delivering world class software, on a franchise we have all loved as gamers and developers for a decade. We discussed the option with the team, and collectively agreed it was a rare opportunity that we couldn't pass up.

We were in a fortunate position at Sledgehammer Games in that we had a very senior team with a deep background in FPS development experience, and familiarity with the IW technology. Still, I'll be honest, the ramp up wasn't easy. Then again, the most worthwhile things in life rarely are easy. I couldn't be more proud of the commitment from the team to push themselves to master the pipelines and to quickly begin contributing to the co-dev effort.. We are also extremely thankful to the developers at IW who were key in helping the knowledge pass down to their counterparts at Sledgehammer Games. Without their support, the ramp up would have been much more challenging.

Now, with both teams pushing ahead at full steam, we have an unprecedented amount of talent focused on the game. The dynamic between the studios invites collaboration, challenges quality, and encourages the development of the best ideas across the game. With support from others across Activision, Modern Warfare 3 is on track to be the deepest and most epic offering in the franchise yet.

- Michael Condrey, Co-founder

Do you have a question? Please submit them to info@sledgehammergames.com