Sledgehammer Games

is a video game developer company located in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Sledgehammer Games is one of the primary studios working on the Call of Duty franchise.
==History==
Sledgehammer Games was founded during summer 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael Condreyhttps://twitter.com/MichaelCondrey/status/360802127989321728 and acquired by Activision the same year. The studio originally worked on Call of Duty: Vietnam, a third-person shooter set during the Cold War.
In early 2011, following tensions between Activision and Infinity Ward, leading to the departure of its founders and half of its staff, Sledgehammer Games was tasked to assist the remaining staff of Infinity Ward on what would become Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Call of Duty: Vietnam was put on hiatus and subsequently cancelled. Modern Warfare 3 was a massive success grossing over $400 million on its launch day and became the fastest-grossing entertainment product to reach $1 billion in 16 days. The record was eventually broken by Call of Duty: Black Ops II when it reached $1 billion in 15 days.
After Modern Warfare 3, Sledgehammer Games became one of the primary studios with Infinity Ward and Treyarch, creating a 3-years release cycle, and developed Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare released in 2014. Advanced Warfare was created using a re-written custom in-house engine based on the IW engine and featured Exo Movements for the first time in the franchise.
In 2017, Sledgehammer Games released Call of Duty: WWII, the first Call of Duty game set during World War II since Call of Duty: World at War in 2008. WWII used the same engine as Advanced Warfare. WWII grossed over $500 million within its first three days of release and crossed $1 billion the following month.
On February 20th, 2018, Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey left the studio and were promoted to executive duties at Activision before leaving the company the following months.
On 2019 and 2020, Sledgehammer Games was one of assistant developers for the Call of Duty games of Infinity Ward and Treyarch, respectively, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
On May 4th, 2021, Activision confirmed during an investor's call that the year's Call of Duty title would be developed by Sledgehammer Games with next-gen consoles in mind. https://charlieintel.com/activision-confirms-sledgehammer-games-developing-call-of-duty-2021/98800/
On August 18th, 2021, Sledgehammer Games confirmed Call of Duty: Vanguard was that years Call of Duty title. The following day on August 19th, Sledgehammer Games joined Raven Software and Beenox with The Battle of Verdansk event in Call of Duty: Warzone. At the end of the event, the trailer for Vanguard played in-game. Vanguard would later be released on November 5th, 2021. Sledgehammer also joined Raven Software in content updates for Call of Duty: Warzone for Vanguard's life cycle.
On August 17th, 2023, it was revealed that the name of the Call of Duty title that Sledgehammer was developing is: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, the sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Sledgehammer, alongside Raven Software, revealed the gameplay trailer with the Shadow Siege in-game event in Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 on August 17th, 2023. The Early Campaign Access was released on November 2nd, 2023 for those who pre-ordered it, while the game itself was fully released on November 10th, 2023.
Sledgehammer Games would also join Raven Software in the content updates for Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 during Modern Warfare III's life cycle.
==Employees==
*Aaron Halon - Former Senior Development Director, now Studio Head
*Eric Pierce - Senior Technical Animator/Artist
*Christopher Stone - Animation Director
*Joe Salud - Art Director
*Bret Robbins - Creative Director
*Scott Whitney - Narrative Director
*Dennis Adams - Development Director
*David Swenson - Lead Sound Designer, Audio Director
*Martin Morgan - Historian, Advisor of for campaign of Call of Duty: WWII
*Raymond Lussier - Systems Designer
==Former Employees==
*Glen Schofield - Vice President and General Manager
*Michael Condrey - Vice President and CEO
*Guy Beahm - Community Manager, Level Designer
*Jonathan Simas - Designer
*Cameron Dayton - Creative Director of Nazi Zombies mode
==Games developed for the Call of Duty series==
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 box art.png|Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3(In collaboration withInfinity Ward)(Nov. 2011)
Call of Duty Advanced Warfare cover.jpg|Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare(Eight-Gen versions)(Nov. 2014)
COD WWII cover.JPG|Call of Duty: WWII(Nov. 2017)
COD Vanguard Artwork.jpg|Call of Duty: Vanguard(Nov. 2021)
ModernWarfareIII Keyart MWIII.jpg|Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III(Nov. 2023)
===Assistant Developer===
BO2 RP Boxart.png|Call of Duty: Black Ops II(Nov. 2012)
Cover Art BO4.jpg|Call of Duty: Black Ops 4(Oct. 2018)
ModernWarfare Artwork MW.jpg|Call of Duty: Modern Warfare(Oct. 2019)
Warzone Artwork CoDWarzone MW.jpg|Call of Duty: Warzone(Mar. 2020)
Keyart Promo BOCW.jpg|Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War(Nov. 2020)
ModernWarfareII Keyart MWII.jpg|Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II(Oct. 2022)
Warzone2 Artwork CoDWarzone2.jpg|Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0(Nov. 2022)
BlackOps6 Keyart BO6.jpg|Call of Duty: Black Ops 6(Oct. 2024)
===Cancelled Games===
*Call of Duty: Vietnam
*Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Sequel
==Gallery==
SledgehammerGames Logo 2023 ALT.png
SledgehammerGames Logo 2023 ALT Black.png|black version.
SledgehammerGames Logo 2021.png|Sledgehammer Games logo in 2021
SledgehammerGames Logo 2021 ALT.png
SHGnew.png|Sledgehammer Games logo in 2014
Alt Sledgehammer Logo.png
==References==
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Category:Game Developers
Category:Real Life Article