Michael Condrey

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title: "Michael Condrey" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-video-game-designers", "american-chief-operating-officers", "university-of-washington-alumni", "living-people", "american-video-game-directors", "american-video-game-producers", "place-of-birth-missing-(living-people)", "american-businesspeople-in-the-video-game-industry", "year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)"] description: "American game designer" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Condrey" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American game designer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Michael Condrey
image	Michael Condrey--at Korea Games Conference in October of 2012.jpg
caption	Condrey at the October 2012 Korea Games Conference
death_date
nationality	American
known_for
occupation
::

| name = Michael Condrey | image = Michael Condrey--at Korea Games Conference in October of 2012.jpg | alt = | caption = Condrey at the October 2012 Korea Games Conference | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = American | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = | title = Michael Condrey is an American video game developer best known as the co-founder and former studio head of Sledgehammer Games, which he founded with Glen Schofield after their collaboration on the popular video game franchise Dead Space. He was the president of 31st Union, a 2K studio located in Silicon Valley, California.

Career

Condrey graduated in 1997 from the University of Washington. The following year, his senior thesis on applying biotechnology to conservation biology was published in the Molecular Ecology. After working as a scuba diving instructor and boat captain in the Cayman Islands, he began work on a graduate degree in Seattle. It was there that he launched his game development career, beginning with a summer job at Electronic Arts (EA) during the peak of Seattle's gaming explosion. Condrey later relocated to Redwood City at the EA-owned studio Visceral Games, where he became studio chief operations officer, as well as senior development director on the 2008 title Dead Space. He also worked on three other successful EA franchises: Need for Speed, FIFA and the James Bond game series. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Glen_Schofield_and_Michael_Condrey_at_the_Sledgehammer_Games_headquarter_--_21_October_2009.jpg" caption="Condrey (right) and [[Glen Schofield]] at the Sledgehammer headquarter, 2009"] ::

In November 2009, Condrey and his Visceral Games colleague Glen Schofield founded Sledgehammer Games, a subsidiary of Activision operating under the company's independent studio model. Condrey likened the opportunity to work with Activision and Call of Duty to a baseball player having a call from the New York Yankees or a filmmaker hearing from Steven Spielberg After an initial attempt to create their own Call of Duty title, Condrey and Schofield collaborated with Infinity Ward on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The game grossed $1 billion in worldwide sales in its first 16 days and took the Best Shooter prize at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards. The following year, the game was named Game Design of the Year at the Korea Games Conference and won the Global Award from Japan Game Awards 2012 at the Tokyo Game Show.

Condrey and Schofield left their roles at Sledgehammer in February 2018, taking up executive positions within Activision. Condrey subsequently left Activision in December 2018 to help establish a new, 2K Games studio under Take Two Interactive near San Francisco in January 2019. The studio name was announced in February 2020 as 31st Union, along with announcing a second location to open in Spain. In February 2025, Kotaku reported that 2K had fired Condrey after 31st Union's debut game, Project Ethos failed to stir any interest.

Game credits

::data[format=table]

Game	Year	Publisher	Credit
Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit	1998	Electronic Arts	Tester
FIFA 99	Producer
Deer Hunt Challenge	1999
Ultimate Hunt Challenge	2000
Champion Bass
The World is Not Enough	Producer
James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire	2001
James Bond 007: Nightfire	2002
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing	2004	Director
From Russia with Love	2005
Dead Space	2008
Dead Space: Extraction	2009	Special Thanks
Call of Duty: Black Ops	2010	Activision
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3	2011	Director
Call of Duty: Black Ops II	2012	Special Thanks
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare	2014	Director
Call of Duty: WWII	2017
::

Industry perspective

Condrey has expressed concerns about the industry's focus on the top five blockbuster video game titles, noting that, in 2012, "there are probably 10 games that should qualify" at that tier, leaving the middle space below as a kind of game purgatory. The result, he said, has created more innovation for other platforms, genres and business models, including Apple's iOS operating system, freemium business models and social-network games. "Across the industry," Condrey said in a GamesIndustry International interview, "it's as exciting as I've ever seen it in terms of innovation and trying new things out."

Condrey has also discussed the role of microtransactions in video games. In 2019, following his departure from Activision, Condrey criticized Activision's implementation of microtranscations, saying Advanced Warfare "launched only with rewarded Supply Drops." and that the team "were driven by, and at the service of, providing fans more ways" to "express achievements", further saying "$30 for a melee weapon? Not on my watch."

References

References

1. Fletcher, JC. (November 17, 2009). "Ex-Visceral Games staff find new home with Activision's 'Sledgehammer Games'". Joystiq.
2. "People: Michael Condrey". Sledgehammer Games.
3. Flemming, Ryan. (February 16, 2013}}
   - {{cite news). "Inside Sledgehammer Games and the Biggest Gamble You Never Knew About". Digital Trends.
4. Rogers, Bruce. (February 21, 2013). "Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey's Sledgehammer Games: Growing the Call of Duty Franchise". Forbes.
5. Brightman, James. (April 18, 2012). "Call of Duty 'transcends entertainment in such a massive way'". GamesIndustry International.
6. "Best Shooter". Video Game Awards.
7. (September 24, 2012). "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Awarded Game Design of the Year by the Korea Game Conference". Sledgehammer Games.
8. Frank, Allegra. (February 20, 2018). "Call of Duty: WWII co-directors exit studio after nearly a decade". [[Polygon (website).
9. Kerr, Chris. (February 4, 2019). "Sledgehammer co-founder Michael Condrey to build and lead new 2K studio". [[Gamasutra]]}}
   - {{cite news.
10. Ivan, Tom. (February 11, 2020). "2K's new 31st Union studio is making an 'ambitious and inspired original IP'". [[Video Games Chronicle]].
11. Makuch, Eddie. (February 6, 2025). "2K Reportedly Fires Boss At Live-Service Project Ethos Studio After Lukewarm Response". [[GameSpot]].
12. (2019-03-27). "Sledgehammer Games Co-Founder hilariously slams Black Ops 4 $30 melee weapon".

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