Sledgehammer co-founders to leave the studio but remain at Activision

Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield, Sledgehammer Games’ co-founders and Call of Duty: WWII’s directors, have left the studio to take over “new executive duties” at parent firm Activision, Kotaku revealed.

Aaron Halon, currently director of product development at Sledgehammer and a founding member of the studio, will take over the role of studio head, Activision then confirmed in a statement. It’s not clear yet what Condrey and Schofield roles will be at the publisher.

“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,” the publisher told Kotaku. “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 said: “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.”

Condrey added: “We founded Sledgehammer Games to bring together a world class development team with a singular goal of delivering excellence for fans. (…) 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.”