Microsoft has greatly reduced the development studio of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Vanguard
Details of large-scale layoffs in the gaming wing of Microsoft continue to emerge. According to Tom Henderson, the Sledgehammer Games studio was immediately cut by 30% - it was responsible for the shooters Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Vanguard.
Insider sources claim that two days before Microsoft announced the layoffs, Sledgehammer Games management told employees that the studio would have to vacate its main California office and move the entire staff to smaller premises. However, this premises has not yet been found, so the developers will have to work from home in the coming months - that is, remotely. Perhaps until the end of 2024.
The shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, released last fall, became the lowest-rated shooter in the history of the series, but sold well - albeit worse than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.
According to Jason Schreier, the project was being prepared in a hurry. After the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard, which did not live up to Activision Blizzard's expectations, the studio helped Infinity Ward with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty: Warzone.
In the summer of 2022, she was tasked with creating DLC for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and after the great success of Modern Warfare II, she was forced to transform this DLC into a full-fledged Modern Warfare III. As a result, the latter was developed in just 16 months.
Schreier also heard that after Call of Duty: Vanguard, Sledgehammer Games wanted to make a new part of the series in the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare universe, but this project was quickly closed in favor of the continuation of Modern Warfare II.
Now Microsoft's top managers have decided to cut the ranks of Sledgehammer Games. Whether she will be able to create full-fledged Call of Duty after this is still unknown.