Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield have left Sledgehammer Games

Kotaku has stated that both Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield have left Sledgehammer Games after being with the studio since it was founded in 2009 by the two.

Activision confirmed the news in a new statement, saying that both Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield will still remain at Activision taking on “new executive duties” within Activision Publishing.

Here’s the statement Activision sent to Kotaku:

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.

Schofield’s statement:

Michael and I have been collaborating for over 12 years. In that time, we’ve made great games that fans have loved, won awards on behalf of our projects and have lived our dreams. We thank Activision for the wonderful opportunity to create and lead Sledgehammer Games. Now, it’s time to try other things. Activision has offered me the opportunity to focus my energy on something I’m very passionate about, exploring new game ideas for the company. It’s something I just couldn’t pass up. Working with such a great studio of developers at Sledgehammer Games has been an honor and the highlight of my career. The team is in great hands with Aaron, he has my full support and confidence. Thank you to everyone.

Condrey’s statement:

We founded Sledgehammer Games to bring together a world class development team with a singular goal of delivering excellence for fans. Over the course of nearly a decade, Glen and I proudly grew the studio and watched a new crop of leaders emerge within the team. On a personal level, I’m deeply grateful to the men and women who have poured their passion into the pursuit of excellence with us. I’m proud of what we accomplished together, it has been the greatest experience of my professional life. I am looking forward to starting a new chapter of my career with Activision. I couldn’t be more excited for the future of Sledgehammer Games and look forward to seeing Aaron lead the studio to new heights.

Sledgehammer has announced that Aaron Halon will be the new Studio Head going forward. Aaron Halon has been with Sledgehammer Games since its founding and served as a Development Director since 2009. He takes over as Studio Head.

This is the first major shake up that Sledgehammer Games has had since its founding in 2009. Both Condrey and Schofield joined Activision and founded Sledgehammer Games in 2009 after departing EA’s Visceral Games, where they were Directors of Dead Space franchise.

Sledgehammer Games has developed three Call of Duty games with Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield as Studio Heads: they co-developed Call of Duty: MW3 with Infinity Ward in 2011; they released their first solo-developed title in 2014 with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Their latest release, Call of Duty: WWII, went on to be the best selling Call of Duty title on current-generation consoles.

It is unclear why the two left Sledgehammer Games in the middle of the DLC/updates season for their latest release, Call of Duty: WWII. Up until late January, Condrey was still posting updates on Twitter and Reddit for Call of Duty: WWII. In late January, he went off grid completely. He has not tweeted or posted on Reddit since then.

The last time Studio Heads of a Call of Duty development studio left their studio during a DLC season was in 2010 when Jason West and Vince Zampella left Infinity Ward.

SOURCE: Kotaku