Sledgehammer Games co-founders Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey are leaving the studio they created after leaving Electronic Arts. Activision confirmed the news today, and noted that the two industry veterans aren’t leaving the publisher. Instead the duo will be doing “executive duties” in Activision. The shake-up has made Aaron Halon, who was a founding member of the Call of Duty: WWII developer, the new studio lead.
Here’s the statement that Activision gave to Kotaku on the departure of the two Sledgehammer Games founders:
Following the incredible success of Call of Duty: WWII, Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey have decided to transition from their duties at Sledgehammer Games to new executive duties inside Activision. We thank Glen and Michael for their tremendous body of work on Call of Duty and look forward to continuing to collaborate with them in their new roles. These changes have created an opportunity to elevate one of the key leaders at the studio, Aaron Halon, to lead Sledgehammer Games. Aaron is a founding member of Sledgehammer Games and the natural fit to lead the team. He has over 20 years of industry experience and has played an instrumental role throughout the studio’s history. We congratulate Aaron and are thrilled about the future of Sledgehammer Games, which we believe has even bigger days ahead.
Sledgehammer Games most recently released Call of Duty: WWII, which was the third Call of Duty game that the developer worked on. We recently talked to Michael Condrey about how personal an experience it was (check the full interview to hear him talk about the closure of Visceral Games):
For us, this is our third Call of Duty game, but this is the first one that brings it back to being about the squad. Not a character or one super soldier, but really about that brotherhood that exemplifies what was great about World War II. The campaign is really powerful for us. It tells a story that hasn’t been told in a decade, and fans have been really generous with their feedback. It’s heartwarming.
Sledgehammer Games is currently working on supporting Call of Duty: WWII, and will continue being one of Activision’s three studios working on the biggest franchise in all of gaming.
[Source: Kotaku]
