Modern Warfare III Was Made in 1.5 Years; Sledgehammer Wanted to Make Advanced Warfare 2 Instead

[UPDATED] Sledgehammer Games released a statement from studio head Aaron Halon to comment on the below story on the development of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.

Long before we wrapped up our previous game, we heard loud and clear from fans about the desire to stay and play together for longer within the same series. And that’s what we’ve delivered – the first true sequel in franchise history. It is also why we added features like Carry Forward for the first time to honor the investment our players have made in the Modern Warfare series.

We’re proud to be the team to lead the way on Modern Warfare III. We have worked hard to deliver on this vision which has been years in the making. Anything said to the contrary is simply not true – this is our game and we cannot wait to play it online with all of you.

[ORIGINAL STORY] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is out today on all platforms, and you can check the launch patch notes here. However, the game’s early reception, specifically for the campaign portion that has been out since last week, has been especially bad.

According to a new report published on Bloomberg, developer Sledgehammer Games was forced to make the game in half the time usually allotted to a new Call of Duty installment. Activision has enforced three-year cycles among its three main studios (Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer), but Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was reportedly made in less than a year and a half.

As you may recall from earlier reports, there was talk of this year’s game being a Modern Warfare II DLC. This is backed again by the new report, with Bloomberg adding that it was meant to be a smaller spin-off-like experience (codenamed Jupiter) set in Mexico. However, in the Summer of 2022, Activision executives told Sledgehammer Games they would be making a full-fledged direct sequel to last year’s game with a story once again centered on Vladimir Makarov as the main antagonist.

The development staff was essentially forced to work nights and weekends to finish Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III on time. Adding to that stress is the fact that Sledgehammer was promised there wouldn’t be a repeat of 2021’s Call of Duty: Vanguard, which was also crafted on a reduced development timeframe (and didn’t do very well critically or commercially compared to the franchise average).

Moreover, following Vanguard, Sledgehammer had originally pitched Advanced Warfare 2 to Activision. The project, codenamed Anvil, was reportedly ambitious with a full campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies mode. However, it had to be set aside rather quickly to make way for this new Modern Warfare chapter. Last but not least, Bloomberg gathered complaints from Sledgehammer employees regarding the mandatory oversight from Infinity Ward, which made development inefficient as it caused a back-and-forth (and sometimes undesired changes enforced from above).

Thankfully for the Foster City-based studio, such a modus operandi is likely to be left behind now that Microsoft has acquired Activision Blizzard. Microsoft is known to be hands-off with its studios, and just yesterday, Xbox Studios head Matt Booty stressed the importance of letting the teams’ creativity run wild, as they should be doing the games they’re passionate about rather than some project mandated by the higher-ups. Moreover, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra recently revealed he also spent time dealing with Activision executives. He reckons decision-making will be faster under Microsoft.

Look forward to our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III review soon.