Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 developed in just 16 months, report claims

A new report claims Modern Warfare 3 was developed in just 16 months. That’s roughly half the time of a standard Call of Duty release.

More than a dozen employees at developer Sledgehammer shared their experiences working on the Modern Warfare 2 sequel with Bloomberg – in particular the need to crunch by working late nights and weekends ahead of release due to its truncated development period.

Meanwhile, sources said that Modern Warfare 3 initially started out as an expansion to last year’s Modern Warfare 2 – something that was previously suggested. This expansion, which was codenamed Jupiter, was reportedly going to be set solely in Mexico, rather than a globe spanning release the Call of Duty series is typically known for.

Those familiar with the project said this type of expansion would have been more obtainable to achieve successfully in the reduced timeframe. However, the project was essentially rebooted during development to become a full fat Call of Duty release.

Employees told Bloomberg this left them feeling “betrayed” and let down by those in charge, as they were forced to crunch to ensure the game was released within that tight timeframe. This was something studio staff naturally wanted to avoid, especially as its last full Call of Duty project – 2021’s Vanguard – was made under a similarly tight development cycle.

In addition, employees at Sledgehammer Games said they did not want to work on Modern Warfare 3. Following the release of Vanguard, the studio actually pitched a game set in the world of Advanced Warfare, codenamed Anvil. However, before this idea could really get off the ground, the team was informed it would instead be working on Modern Warfare 3.

Subsequently, during the development of Modern Warfare 3, staff were said to have been left “frustrated” by the need to run their content by executives from Infinity Ward, another Call of Duty developer. Sledgehammer Games employees said they had to deal with “inefficiencies waiting on feedback and making significant and sometimes unwanted changes based on directives from above”.

Just yesterday, Sledgehammer studio head Aaron Halon released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, calling Modern Warfare 3 a “labour of love”. Halon went on to state: “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.”

Eurogamer has asked Activision for further comment.

In our own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 review, our Chris Tapsell called it “vapid and hastily assembled”.

“Clearly rushed to market, Modern Warfare 3’s campaign tapes together ill-conceived open areas, underwhelming linear missions, and a meaningless story,” he wrote.