Michael Condrey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michael Condrey
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Condrey at the October 2012 Korea Games Conference
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| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Video game director, producer |
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| Title | President of 31st Union |
Michael Condrey is a well-known American video game creator. He helped start a company called Sledgehammer Games with Glen Schofield. They worked together on the popular Dead Space video game series. Today, Michael Condrey is the president of 31st Union. This is a video game studio owned by 2K in Silicon Valley, California.
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Michael Condrey's Journey in Gaming
Michael Condrey finished college at the University of Washington in 1997. The next year, his research about using biotechnology to help nature was published. After working as a scuba diving instructor, he started his career in video games.
He got a summer job at Electronic Arts (EA) in Seattle. This was when many new game companies were starting there. Later, Condrey moved to Redwood City to work at Visceral Games, a studio owned by EA. He became a top manager there. He also worked as a senior director on the 2008 game Dead Space. He helped create other popular EA games too. These included Need for Speed, FIFA, and the James Bond game series.
Starting Sledgehammer Games
In November 2009, Michael Condrey and his friend Glen Schofield started Sledgehammer Games. This new company was part of Activision. Condrey felt that working with Activision and the Call of Duty games was a huge chance. He compared it to a baseball player getting a call from the New York Yankees.
At first, they wanted to make their own Call of Duty game. Instead, Condrey and Schofield worked with Infinity Ward on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This game was a massive success. It earned $1 billion in sales in just 16 days. It also won the Best Shooter award in 2011. The game later won Game Design of the Year in Korea and a Global Award in Japan.
New Adventures at 31st Union
In February 2018, Condrey and Schofield left Sledgehammer Games. They took on new leadership roles at Activision. Then, in December 2018, Condrey left Activision. He wanted to help start a new studio for 2K Games near San Francisco. This new studio was announced in February 2020 as 31st Union. They also shared plans to open a second office in Spain.
Games Michael Condrey Worked On
Michael Condrey has helped create many video games. Here are some of the games he worked on:
- Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (1998) – Tester
- FIFA 99 (1998) – Producer
- The World is Not Enough (2000) – Producer
- James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire (2001) – Producer
- James Bond 007: Nightfire (2002) – Producer
- James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (2004) – Director
- From Russia with Love (2005) – Director
- Dead Space (2008) – Director
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) – Director
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014) – Director
- Call of Duty: WWII (2017) – Director
Michael Condrey's Thoughts on Gaming
Michael Condrey has shared his ideas about the video game world. He noticed that many companies focus only on a few very big games. He felt that in 2012, more games should have been considered top-tier. This focus, he said, led to new ideas in other areas. These included games for phones like Apple's iOS and games that are free to play but offer extra purchases (called freemium models). He also saw growth in social-network games. Condrey said the industry was "as exciting as I've ever seen it" for new ideas.
He also talked about microtransactions in games. These are small purchases players can make inside a game. After leaving Activision, Condrey said that Advanced Warfare only had "rewarded Supply Drops" when it launched. He felt the team wanted to give fans more ways to show off their achievements. He disagreed with very high prices for in-game items, saying, "$30 for a melee weapon? Not on my watch."
See also
In Spanish: Michael Condrey para niños
