"This article is passive aggressive, rude, and discredits the research and development necessary..."
Sledgehammer Games’ Belinda Garcia has fired back at Kotaku over an article in which it deemed research conducted by now-departed co-founder Glen Schofield as “a vacation”.
Kotaku’s Ian Walker covered a profile of Schofield published by Edge, in which the now head of Striking Distance Studios detailed the “ton of research” needed to develop and ship a Call of Duty game.
“You’re working with experts — I studied World War II for three years,” Schofield said. “I worked with historians. I spent eight days in a van in Europe going to all the places that were going to be in the game. I shot different old weapons. All of these things that you have to do when you’re working on a Call of Duty game.”
While Walker begins his critique with the disclaimer, “in no way do I intend to diminish the often-overwhelming amount of work that goes into making video games,” he continues on to say that “what Schofield is talking about here sounds suspiciously like a vacation.
“Sure, it’s probably hard to think of it that way when you’re there for work, but come on. You’re traveling Europe with Activision’s credit card in your wallet, not back in the studio documenting bugs for 12 hours a day at barely more than minimum wage.”
Taking to Twitter, Garcia, a narrative designer at Sledgehammer, called the article “passive aggressive, rude, and discredits the research and development necessary for literally ANYTHING to get made. It is further driving the ignorant narrative that making art is one big forever vacation and makes us vulnerable to harassment.
“They mock the time and money spent to properly support and inform art, leaving ‘reading and watching videos’ under quotation marks to emphasize how unimportant they view the work,” she continued. “But don’t worry, it’ll be the first place they’ll shame devs for ‘not doing enough research.'”
Sledgehammer is currently at work on a Call of Duty game that’s yet to be revealed by it and Activision Blizzard. Schofield’s Striking Distance Studios is currently at work on The Callisto Protocol.
This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.
