Sledgehammer opens new studio in Melbourne, Australia

Call of Duty developer, Sledgehammer Games, is expanding and opening a new studio in Melbourne, Australia. 

As yet the news has not formally been confirmed by parent company Activision, but producer Alayna Cole announced she will be starting at the new base on Monday in her talk at the New Zealand Developers Conference.

Hey heeeeey, look what I was allowed to announce at my #NZGDC19 talk, and now on social media!

You’re looking at the first official hire at @SHGames Melbourne! I am so excited to say I will be starting there as a producer on Monday, and helping to grow our studio in my new home. pic.twitter.com/p6e5E6aFma

— Alayna Cole (@WordsByAlayna) September 5, 2019

 

“You’re looking at the first official hire at [Sledgehammer Games] Melbourne!” she said. “I am so excited to say I will be starting there as a producer on Monday, and helping to grow our studio in my new home.”

According to Ingames (thanks, GI.biz), Sledgehammer Games already employed a “small engineering team” in Australia, but now looked to be “ramping up its presence” with Cole’s news of the new Melbourne studio.

The CEO of the Games Developers Association of Australia (GDAA), Anthony Reed, stepped down from his position in December work with Epic Games as it also establishes a new office for the Fortnite developer in Australia and New Zealand.

Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield, Sledgehammer Games’ co-founders and Call of Duty: WWII’s directors, left the studio to take over “new executive duties” at parent firm Activision back in February 2018, but left Activision Blizzard entirely in December. 

Schofield has now joined PUBG Corporation as CEO of Striking Distance, a brand new studio located in San Ramon, California. Striking Distance is an independent development studio wholly owned by PUBG Corporation. The company reports Schofield is building “a world-class development team from the ground up” to create “an original narrative experience within the PUBG universe”.

Schofield fellow co-founder, Michael Condrey, recently joined 2K to lead its new Silicon Valley studio as president. Right now 2K isn’t confirming what project Condrey is leading on, but Condrey did confirm “the new outfit will be proactive in building a diverse workforce”.

“This is definitely a personal priority for me,” he tells us. “One of the most exciting things about setting up a new studio is the opportunity, from a clean canvas, to shape the commitment to culture from the start.”