The studio also managed to produce a game with the same name as 2011’s Call of Duty in less than half the usual development time (it wouldn’t be surprising if the quality of the game was affected…).

Bloomberg has reported that Activision Blizzard has forced Sledgehammer Games to take just 1.5 years to develop this year’s installment of Call of Duty, instead of the usual three years. Up until now, it was common for the IP to rotate between Infinity Ward, Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games, with each getting a new episode every 3 years, but that wasn’t the case this time.

Previously, we’ve heard rumors that this year’s Call of Duty would be a DLC for last year’s game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (codenamed Jupiter). This was confirmed by Bloomberg. Originally the goal was to put together a smaller, spin-off style experience set in Mexico, but last summer Activision Blizzard executives gave Sledgehammer the order that they needed to make a full-fledged sequel to CoD 2022, and once again Vladimir Makarov would have to be the main antagonist.

Hence the forced weekends and nights to get the game done on time, and the promise of the team (in 2021, after Call of Duty: Vanguard, they said this would not happen again; that game was also put together in less time and ended up not performing well in any form). After Call of Duty: Vanguard, Sledgehammer wanted to develop the second part of Advanced Warfare. The project, codenamed Anvil, had big ideas (full story, multiplayer, zombies), but was eventually scrapped…

Bloomberg has also heard from Sledgehammer employees that Infinity Ward’s oversight was a source of complaint, as development was inefficient due to back-and-forth communication and unwanted changes from the top. In theory, this case had a happy ending, as Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard, and the Redmond-based company is not forcing anything and is letting creativity run free.

Sledgehammer responded with a statement written by studio head Aaron Halon: “Long before we finished our last game, we heard loud and clear from our fans that they wanted to stay and play together for longer within the same series. And that’s what we’ve delivered – the first true sequel in the franchise’s history. It is also why we added features like Carry Forward for the first time to honor the investment our players have made in the Modern Warfare franchise. We’re proud to be the team leading the charge on Modern Warfare III. We have worked hard to realize this vision that has been years in the making. Anything to the contrary is simply not true – this is our game and we cannot wait to play it online with all of you.

It’s getting boring to see Call of Duty every year. And so is the franchise.

Source: WCCFTech