Call of Duty: Vanguard developer Sledgehammer Games may not always be a Call of Duty exclusive studio, according to an interview with its bosses.
VentureBeat went in-depth on the history of Sledgehammer in an interview with studio head Aaron Halon and COO Andy Wilson. The interview focused on the substantial changes Sledgehammer underwent after founders Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey left the studio and how it fits in with Activision's other Call of Duty studios - but it also included a hint at what may come next for the studio.
"If you look at where we are right now, we’re obviously preparing to ship Vanguard," Halon said. "Clearly we’re also thinking about what comes next. The biggest thing for our team is that we want to constantly have interesting, exciting projects to work on. Obviously, Call of Duty is a huge pillar in the studio. It’s our primary focus, what we’re fully invested in right now
"Whether there are other things in the future that we look at as well, we’ll take the time to think about all of those things. Culturally, we do that as well. We take the time to breathe occasionally and think about where we want to go.
The studio stepping out of the Call of Duty cycle would inherently mean another studio would need to step in as a lead developer, or the franchise's current three-year development cycle would need to change. In any case, Sledgehammer still has its plate full with finishing up work on the launch version of Call of Duty: Vanguard, then rolling straight into post-launch content and continuing to support related projects like Call of Duty: Warzone. We'll just have to wait and see what else the future holds.
Check out our Call of Duty: Vanguard preview to see what Sledgehammer's working on right now.
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