Sledgehammer Games, the developer behind this November’s Call of Duty: Vanguard, is opening a new office, its first in the UK. After establishing offices in Melbourne, Australia (2019) and Toronto, Canada (2021), Sledgehammer is now opening an office in Guildford, United Kingdom.
Liz Wyle, a former director of product development at PlayStation Europe, is the general manager of Sledgehammer Games Guildford. “Guildford has a long history of video game development, and as a result, there’s a lot of top-tier talent and an existing game dev community there and in the surrounding towns. We’re also an easy reverse commute in from London, which has a huge talent pool,” Wyle said.
Now Playing: Call of Duty: Vanguard – Official Story Trailer
Sledgehammer’s Guildford team will work alongside Sledgehammer’s main HQ in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Melbourne and Toronto, to work on Vanguard’s live-service elements and “future projects [that are] planned for the years ahead.”
The Guildford office is staffing up now, with open positions across a variety of disciplines such as art, design, engineering, animation, UI and UX, production, and audio.
Sledgehammer’s COO Andy Wilson said: “I’m just really excited to bring our studio brand to the UK, along with the incredible franchise we get to work on. It’s another opportunity to do our own small part to grow the industry, in a place where there’’ a huge number of talented developers.”
“As we have done in our other locations, we will be looking to build partnerships with schools and universities to help nurture and grow the next generation of talent. It’s not just about finding people who already work in the industry, it’s about providing pathways for those who are looking to get in. I remember that daunting feeling very well and it makes me happy to be providing opportunity, especially as we emerge from a historic pandemic.”
It’s not just Sledgehammer that’s expanding, as Modern Warfare studio Infinity Ward just opened a new office in Austin, Texas.
In other news, Sledgehammer will reveal Vanguard’s Zombies mode today, October 14–here’s how to watch and what to expect.
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