Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is globally out today, but the first person shooter hasn’t got off to the best start where critical and fan reception is concerned. In particular, its surprisingly short single player campaign has drawn widespread criticism, and a recent report published by Bloomberg has revealed that Sledgehammer Games developed the game in the just of just 16 months, which entailed developers working nights and weekends.
Sledgehammer, however, has now published a statement that refutes those claims. Written by studio head Aaron Halon, the statement was published by the studio on its official page on social media platform X, where he stated that the vision for Modern Warfare 3 “has been years in the making”, and that reports to the contrary are “simply not true”.
“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,” Halon wrote. “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.”
As per Bloomberg’s aforementioned report, Modern Warfare 3 was originally planned as DLC for last year’s game, though Activision ultimately decided to reboot the project as a new premium entry. Given the game’s short single player campaign and the fact that its multiplayer comprises entirely of remastered versions of older maps (among other factors), the feeling that it was indeed initially planned as an expansion for Modern Warfare 2 is certainly hard to shake.
Interestingly, it’s also been claimed that Sledgehammer’s original intention was to develop a follow-up to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, before being told it would be leading development on Modern Warfare 3.
Statement from Aaron Halon, studio head, SHG.
“We’re incredibly proud of Modern Warfare III – both the full game experience at launch and the upcoming year of content we have planned for the community. On behalf of the extremely talented team across Sledgehammer Games and our…— Sledgehammer Games (@SHGames) November 9, 2023
