Call of Duty loses veteran creative director after 15 years

Call of Duty has lost a veteran multiplayer creative director after 15 years of work on the franchise. Greg Reisdorf has called time on his stint at Sledgehammer Games, bringing a long-term collaboration to an end.

Multiplayer creative director leaves Sledgehammer Games after 15 years

In a post on X, Reisdorf confirmed his decision to leave Sledgehammer Games after a decade and a half of work. The studio’s first contribution to Call of Duty was 2011’s Modern Warfare 3, meaning Reisdorf had worked on every mainline Sledgehammer game in the series.

What then began was a lengthy thread detailing some of his favorite features that he worked on over the years. As it turns out, he’s made quite the contribution to the franchise!

Notably, Reisdorf was responsible for the weapon signatures system, which gave each gun a unique trait to make them all feel different from one another. He went on to describe Advanced Warfare as “ahead of its time” thanks to its boots-off-the-ground movement system and claimed that the emblem editor feature seen in older titles “was a hill I would have died on,” despite players using it to create unsavory imagery.

Upon reflection, not all of the creative choices were the right way forward, though. Reisdorf claims the Pick 13 class system “should not have happened,” since it made players weigh up attachments and weapons against rewards like killstreaks. Similarly, the Divisions system in Call of Duty: WWII caused serious reflection, with Reisdorf stating, “It’s tough to look back and know we shipped this way.” The entire thread is a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of the last 15 years of Call of Duty, and is well worth a read.

Reisdorf has yet to reveal where he will take his talents and experience next, although he’s sure to be a valuable asset to any team, especially in the FPS space.