Sledgehammer Games Not On Board With Call of Duty: Ghosts, “Heads Down” in “Next Project”

It appears that Sledgehammer games, who co-developed 2011’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with developers Infinity Ward, will not return to assist with the recently announced Call of Duty: Ghosts. Instead, they are “heads down” in their “next project.”

As many may already know, Call of Duty’s yearly development cycle sees an alteration between two primary studios: Infinity Ward (COD 1, COD 2, COD4, MW2, MW3) and Treyarch (COD 3, WaW, BO1, BO2). In 2011, Sledgehammer Games was thrown into the mix, assisting Infinity Ward with the development of Modern Warfare 3 after a number of employees left to form Respawn Entertainment, who are said to be working on an upcoming project, code named “Titan,” under publisher Electronic Arts.

According to a recent tweet by Sledgehammer Games congratulating Infinity Ward on the announcement of COD: Ghosts, it appears that they will not be returning to development on this year’s Call of Duty title. They have something else planned.

Screen Shot 2013-05-01 at 1.08.25 PM

Last we heard of the studio, they were reported to be searching for a Senior Environment Artist to work on a Call of Duty title for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Earlier, co-founder Glen Schofield hinted at the possibility of moving on to an entirely new IP, saying, “we’d like to do both [create another CoD] or either. Truthfully, how could you go wrong with making either another COD game or a new IP?” After the release of Modern Warfare 3, Schofield stated, “we will all need some time to recharge the batteries and come back refreshed and ready to give 110%… I know Activision wants us to work on what we’re passionate about, that’s why they asked us to work on MW3, not forced us.”

UPDATE: You may also recall Activision stating their intent to “engage [their core audience] beyond their TV or PC and then give them new experiences around Call of Duty that are unique for [mobile devices].” It’s possible that Sledgehammer Games would be spear-heading the shift towards more “grandiose, immerse experiences” on mobile.

Either way, it looks as though we can look forward do something new from developers Sledgehammer Games, hopefully soon. This also suggests that Infinity Ward may be the sole development house working on Call of Duty: Ghosts, unless, as earlier rumores suggested, they’ve partnered up with Neversoft, who were also reported to be working on a Call of Duty project.

What do you guys think Sledgehammer Games could be working on?

58 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Top Games and Upcoming Releases