The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

[Sep 02, 2011, 12:42 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Following the confirmation earlier this year of indications from a year ago that Sledgehammer Games was working on one of three upcoming Call of Duty games for Activision, comes word that Sledgehammer's CoD never made it out of the prototype stage, explaining why the team was shifted to work on the single-player portion of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The developer doesn't actually say their third-person Call of Duty action/adventure was cancelled, just that "the opportunity" to work on Modern Warfare 3 arose, and the studio accepted it. This comes in a Who is Sledgehammer Games GameSpot Video (thanks VG247) talking with Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, who were hired away from EA Redwood/Visceral Games in 2009 after helping create Dead Space (or as they refer to it, "another game"). At around the 2:18 mark the clip explains what happened to their CoD project:

Narrator: "Sledgehammer Games' first title was intended to be an entirely new style of game set in the Call of Duty Franchise, a third-person action/adventure title. But as the structure of Activision's internal studios shifted, it was clear that the upcoming Modern Warfare 3 would need additional support in order to achieve the success that is expected of the series. The team at Sledgehammer Games was all too eager to answer that call."

Glenn Schofield: "Yeah, we came on board to make a third-person action/adventure game in the Call of Duty franchise, and, I don't know, we were working on it about six months?"

Michael Condrey: "Yeah, maybe a little longer. It was pretty exciting, I mean the idea of the sort of global appeal of Call of Duty meets sort of the third-person genre for the first time. And there are a lot of fans out there who enjoy games like uncharted, right? So you can imagine that genre meets a world-class franchise. Yeah, I think we had about six, eight months on that; we had a prototype together that was pretty compelling and looked really good, and then, you know, the opportunity to work on the biggest thing in the industry with a developer in Infinity Ward that's demonstrated that they know how to do exceptional software, was just an opportunity... A lot of people on the team had worked on Call of Duty before and first-person shooters before, so there was a lot of built-in knowledge about the first-person shooter genre and a lot of passionate gamers; there's guys on the floor that are on their tenth prestige on Black Ops, so it was a nice meeting of... a nice marriage of experience with the genre and fan desire to work on..."

Glenn Schofield: "It was pretty easy to steer the boat after we have the studio voted on 'do you want to work on this game?,' and once we all agreed on it and we just went in that direction."

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18.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 3, 2011, 00:44

TurdFergasun

i'm claiming the world class marketing term your want to throw around assumes a certain level of quality because a bunch of overfed peons flock to it like bums to a crack pipe. you're a stooge, nothing more. cod and the word class have no sane reason to be placed together unless you're getting proceeds from the rapefest that entails. i can hear you now, slurping on the un-consumed dregs of disease not devoured by the rest of the rabble attached to kocktick's machinations. why don't you go get some meth from whatever local ghetto is available to you. i hear it's pretty world class.

17.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 3, 2011, 00:15

Teddy

TurdFergasun wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 21:07: fox news seems to have the recipe for news coverage that most americans want, or seem to be capable of receiving. it's popular, but i wouldn't call it world class. your logic is junk, and based on marketing principles that are poisonous to begin with. My logic is junk? What logic did you use, pray tell? I see none whatsoever. That you are trying to claim "world-class" only applies to things YOU like is pretty freaking pathetic. THAT is a poisonous, self-centered principle that you should be looking at. Why don't you try and show some actual logic that suggests otherwise, instead of saying "NUH UH!" and assuming that's enough. In entertainment, popularity IS the defining metric. You want more than that? Fine, take a look at the critic scores for the CoD games in metacritic. What's that? Now you claim it's a conspiracy and all those critics are paid off? No, you don't even need to bother posting it, I already know what drivel you'll spew to try and back up your lack of logic. The critics like it, the gamers like it. You don't. You are the minority. Your opinion that something isn't good enough to be called world-class is thusly irrelevant. And to say it one more time before you go into meltdown, I don't like Call of Duty either. That doesn't make my opinion (OR YOURS) more important or more worthwhile than that of the tens of millions that buy the games every year. Some people's children, I swear... the best selling franchise OF ALL TIME, and you have the gall to suggest it's not a "world class franchise" simply because you don't like it. Abso-fucking-lutely retarded. You're probably one of those people that thinks only intellectuals or rich people should be able to vote too, because everyone else's opinion is somehow less important than yours. Get over yourself. The majority defines what is good and what is not when it comes to art and entertainment. Not me. Not you.

16.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 21:07

TurdFergasun

fox news seems to have the recipe for news coverage that most americans want, or seem to be capable of receiving. it's popular, but i wouldn't call it world class. your logic is junk, and based on marketing principles that are poisonous to begin with. Teddy wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 16:39: Jow wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 16:30: Financially I don't think there's any dispute. Gameplay-wise, I think there's a legitimate argument of the "cookie-cutter banality" variety. That they had the panache to create a cash cow they are now milking the shit out of does not automatically make it world-class. Again, that's your personal preference for/against the game that's colouring your opinion on whether or not it deserves to be called world class. Gameplay-waise, it's what most people want, or else they wouldn't keep buying it. The fact that more FPS gamers buy and play CoD games over any other FPS game in existence proves pretty clearly that it is world-class. It's not to my taste, nor likely to yours from your commentary on it, but that doesn't devalue the importance, influence or quality of the franchise.

15.

removed

Sep 2, 2011, 21:00

dfger

* REMOVED * This comment was deleted on Sep 2, 2011, 21:04.

14.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 20:49

RogNog

I personally think COD peaked at COD4 and had an interesting twist in COD5 (zombies) but from then it has been the same game, game play and engine. The tweaking they have done since then you would have expected to have been done by the mod community for free in the past(I would offer Desert combat as a class example). Having said this, I cannot blaim Activision for what they are doing. BK has a model for all franchises, a lick of paint, hype, a massive advertising campaign, a yearly release and voila sales in the millions profits in the billions. The same model has made Apple the most profitable company in the world. IMHO BK has no interest in experimentation or pushing the boundaries, COD in its current form sells and sells well. If this is what people want then why not sell it to them? A lot of people call him on here but he has basically turned what used to be $40 dollar every few years, to $100's a year, year on year with DLC and annual releases. From a fiscal persepctive you cant argue with it as hes created a steady income stream from a none MMO which is no mean feat. So in short I think they have pulled back on this one (SH's Third person COD) as to unknown, teh elite service is all they dare risk at this point. I personally have no doubt that this will do well. You can probably tell that I personally will not buy another COD game, but that doesnt mean I dont appreciate a good business model. Now some on here will be bemoaning the lack of creativity but Im sorry that has to come a long second when you are owned by share holders. yout primary job is to deliver more and more profit quarter on quarter. If you can do that with the minimum amount of cost and risk then its a no brainer. the fact teh game remains teh same adn yet people on average have paid proabably getting on for £250 to £300 dollars to the franchise already, is not a measure of how evil BK or activision is, its a measure of how stupid the public is. In short you make what sells and when it sells well you very rarely mess with it, new coke anyone

13.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 20:37

Teddy

bhcompy wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 19:50: Are you dense? Was the iPhone around in 1987? Until FF13, every game in the series was exclusive to a particular console for extended periods of time. Some were eventually remade or otherwise rereleased much later on other systems. Of course there are tons of other titles as well. Perhaps you'd like another first party title: Anything Mario You're trying to hide the fact that you claimed Final Fantasy was limited to one platform, by dancing around your error? Really? "Exclusive to a particular console for a period of time", is not the same thing as them being limited to one platform. So despite your rant and pathetic attempt to hide your blatant error, what exactly do you have against my comment? Is Uncharted restricted to one platform or not? It's exclusive and will remain exclusive. Not only that, it's exclusive to the lowest selling platform of it's generation. So fans of that sort of game that don't have PS3's would likely be happy to see something similar show up on the 360. Beyond that, what exactly is the point of pointing out other large franchises? Yes, Mario is restricted to one platform (well, one vendor, multiple platforms of theirs). Yes it's successful and it is also a world-class franchise. It still doesn't compare with CoD in terms of sales or popularity, even having been around for decades longer.

12.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 19:50

bhcompy

Teddy wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 16:41: bhcompy wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 16:34: Teddy wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 15:43: Ludomancer wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 15:12: And there are a lot of fans out there who enjoy games like uncharted, right? So you can imagine that genre meets a world-class franchise. 'Cause, you know, Uncharted is practically unheard of! No, but it is limited to one platform. So was Final Fantasy. Is that a joke? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy The franchise spans 13 platforms. Are you dense? Was the iPhone around in 1987? Until FF13, every game in the series was exclusive to a particular console for extended periods of time. Some were eventually remade or otherwise rereleased much later on other systems. Of course there are tons of other titles as well. Perhaps you'd like another first party title: Anything Mario

11.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 16:41

Teddy

bhcompy wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 16:34: Teddy wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 15:43: Ludomancer wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 15:12: And there are a lot of fans out there who enjoy games like uncharted, right? So you can imagine that genre meets a world-class franchise. 'Cause, you know, Uncharted is practically unheard of! No, but it is limited to one platform. So was Final Fantasy. Is that a joke? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy The franchise spans 13 platforms.

10.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 16:39

Teddy

Jow wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 16:30: Financially I don't think there's any dispute. Gameplay-wise, I think there's a legitimate argument of the "cookie-cutter banality" variety. That they had the panache to create a cash cow they are now milking the shit out of does not automatically make it world-class. Again, that's your personal preference for/against the game that's colouring your opinion on whether or not it deserves to be called world class. Gameplay-waise, it's what most people want, or else they wouldn't keep buying it. The fact that more FPS gamers buy and play CoD games over any other FPS game in existence proves pretty clearly that it is world-class. It's not to my taste, nor likely to yours from your commentary on it, but that doesn't devalue the importance, influence or quality of the franchise.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 16:34

bhcompy

Teddy wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 15:43: Ludomancer wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 15:12: And there are a lot of fans out there who enjoy games like uncharted, right? So you can imagine that genre meets a world-class franchise. 'Cause, you know, Uncharted is practically unheard of! No, but it is limited to one platform. So was Final Fantasy.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 16:30

Jow

Financially I don't think there's any dispute. Gameplay-wise, I think there's a legitimate argument of the "cookie-cutter banality" variety. That they had the panache to create a cash cow they are now milking the shit out of does not automatically make it world-class.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 16:14

Creston

"Hey, do you guys want to make a four hour single player game, with recycled maps from the first MW instead?" Surprise surprise. Creston

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 15:48

jacobvandy

I found it more amusing that he just sort of casually implied that, if they DID make it, it would have been the military shooter equivalent of one of the best action-adventure games of all time.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 15:46

Teddy

Jow wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 13:18: "world-class franchise"... god ilove the english language. Your own personal preference aside, are you honestly trying to suggest that the best selling game franchise of all time is not a "world-class franchise"? I hate marketing speak as much as anyone, but if any franchise has the right to name itself as such, it's Call of Duty.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 15:43

Teddy

Ludomancer wrote on Sep 2, 2011, 15:12: And there are a lot of fans out there who enjoy games like uncharted, right? So you can imagine that genre meets a world-class franchise. 'Cause, you know, Uncharted is practically unheard of! No, but it is limited to one platform.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 15:12

Ludomancer

And there are a lot of fans out there who enjoy games like uncharted, right? So you can imagine that genre meets a world-class franchise. 'Cause, you know, Uncharted is practically unheard of! Fuck marketing.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 13:50

DangerDog

3rd person CoD game, really? That would have put a nail in the coffin for sure.

Re: The Fate of Sledgehammer's CoD Game Explained (Somewhat)

Sep 2, 2011, 13:18

Jow

"world-class franchise"... god ilove the english language.

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