Sledgehammer Games facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Sledgehammer Games, Inc.

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	July 21, 2009; 16 years ago (2009-07-21)
Founders	Michael Condrey Glen Schofield
Headquarters	Foster City, California, United States
Key people	Aaron Halon (studio head) Andy Wilson (chief operating officer) David Swenson (creative director) Greg Reisdorf (multiplayer creative director)
Products	Call of Duty series
Number of employees	450+ (August 2021)
Parent	Activision
Subsidiaries	Sledgehammer Games Melbourne Sledgehammer Games Toronto Sledgehammer Games Guildford

Sledgehammer Games, Inc. is an American company that makes video games. It was started in 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey. These two people used to work at Visceral Games. They helped create the game Dead Space.

Sledgehammer Games is located in Foster City, California. The company has made or helped make many games in the popular Call of Duty series. Activision owns Sledgehammer Games. Activision itself is owned by Microsoft. In 2024, Sledgehammer Games closed its California office. Many employees now work from home. About 30% of the staff were also laid off as part of changes at Microsoft Gaming.

How Sledgehammer Games Started

Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, who started Sledgehammer Games, worked together before. In 2005, they worked on the game 007: From Russia with Love at Electronic Arts. Condrey was the director and Schofield was the executive producer. They also worked together on Dead Space. They had similar backgrounds and skills that worked well together.

After starting Sledgehammer Games on July 21, 2009, Schofield and Condrey had an idea for Activision. They wanted to make a Call of Duty game that was played from a third-person view. This would be like their successful game Dead Space.

Activision thought about their idea for a few weeks. Then, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick asked them to join Activision. Schofield and Condrey agreed. They felt joining Activision would help them keep their creative ideas and team. It also gave them the safety of being part of a big game publisher.

Working on Call of Duty Games

Sledgehammer Games worked on their third-person Call of Duty game for about six to eight months in 2009. They even made a short playable part of the game. This game would have added action-adventure elements to the series.

However, there was a disagreement between Infinity Ward, the studio that made the Modern Warfare games, and its co-founders. This led to the co-founders leaving. They took some Infinity Ward employees with them. This left Activision with fewer staff. They also had a tight deadline to finish the next game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Activision then asked Sledgehammer Games to stop their third-person game. Instead, they wanted Sledgehammer to help Infinity Ward. This was a big decision for both companies. Sledgehammer Games had not released a game on its own yet. They would also have to stop working on a game style they knew well. They would also face a very tough schedule for a new game.

Sledgehammer Games asked their team if they wanted to take on this challenge. Everyone agreed. It was a huge risk for the new studio. But they worked with Infinity Ward. This was the first time two companies worked together to make a Modern Warfare game. Both company logos appeared on the game box. The two teams met in 2010 to share ideas. They both wanted the game to be set in Europe. They also wanted to finish the story that had been told in the past games.

Sledgehammer Games first logo (2009–2021)

In February 2014, it was announced that Sledgehammer Games would make a Call of Duty game for release that year. On May 1, a picture of a soldier in a special exo-skeleton suit was shown. More details and a trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare were released soon after. The game came out on November 4, 2014.

On April 21, 2017, Sledgehammer Games and Activision announced their next Call of Duty game. It was called Call of Duty: WWII. This game was released on November 3, 2017.

In February 2018, Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey left Sledgehammer Games. They still worked with Activision for a while. Later, Condrey left Activision to work for 2K Games. Schofield also left to start his own studio called Striking Distance.

In 2019, Sledgehammer Games was working with Raven Software on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The two teams had different ideas for the game. So, Activision brought in another developer, Treyarch, to lead the game's creation. Sledgehammer and Raven Software then helped out.

Sledgehammer Games second logo (2021–2023)

Sledgehammer Games opened a new studio in Melbourne, Australia in September 2019. By May 2020, the company had over 200 employees. They planned to hire 100 more people. In May 2021, Sledgehammer opened another studio in Toronto, Canada. By August 2021, Sledgehammer Games had over 450 employees. In October 2021, they opened a new studio in Guildford in the UK. Sledgehammer led the making of Call of Duty: Vanguard, which came out on November 5, 2021.

In 2023, Sledgehammer developed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. This was the twentieth game in the Call of Duty series. It was released on November 10, 2023.

In January 2024, Microsoft Gaming laid off many staff. Sledgehammer Games was also affected. The studio reportedly lost up to 30% of its employees.

How Sledgehammer Games Works

Sledgehammer Games has a special studio designed for making games. It has an open work area and good equipment.

As of August 2021, Sledgehammer has about 450 employees. When new people join, they get a special challenge coin. This coin has the Sledgehammer Games' values carved into it. This tradition comes from World War I. Soldiers were given coins with their group's symbol to show they belonged.

Games Made by Sledgehammer Games

See also

In Spanish: Sledgehammer Games para niños