Call of Duty Devs React to Christopher Judge Mocking MW3 Campaign at The Game Awards

Multiple Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 developers reacted to Christopher Judge’s comments about the game’s campaign at The Game Awards 2023, making their frustrations known about the joke. Although the joke was well-received by many in the audience, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 developers believe the joke undermines the work they’ve put into one of 2023’s biggest releases.

Hosted by Geoff Keighley, The Game Awards 2023 was held on December 7 as a celebration of the year’s critically acclaimed games and their developers. The event also brought several major game announcements, including Monster Hunter Wilds and SEGA’s upcoming remakes. Aside from the major announcements, award winners from previous iterations of The Game Awards also presented the awards for this year’s recipients. While presenting the Best Performance award at The Game Awards 2023, last year’s Best Performance winner and God of War actor Christopher Judge jokingly mentioned that his speech was longer than Modern Warfare 3’s campaign. The joke was met with laughter and shock from the audience, though the Modern Warfare 3 developers at Sledgehammer Games and Treyarch were not happy.

Various Modern Warfare 3 developers took to Twitter to express their distaste and frustration with Judge’s joke about the campaign, including former Infinity Ward developer Ajinkya Limaye. Limaye, who now works at Bungie, says Call of Duty “absolutely destroys” the entire God of War series in terms of metrics. Treyarch associate art director Nelson “Ticklematter” Plumey also responded to Judge’s joke, saying that God of War’s short-term engagement is something that Call of Duty “can’t relate” to. In a deleted tweet that was screencapped by CharlieIntel, Sledgehammer Games expert engineer Darcy Sandall said the Call of Duty developers “heard way worse,” but it was an unexpected joke since it came from a peer in the gaming industry.

Call of Duty Developers React to Christopher Judge’s Joke

Judge’s comment appears to resonate with the Call of Duty community, since many players were disappointed about Modern Warfare 3’s three to four-hour campaign and launch issues. While many believe the joke should not be taken seriously, others suggest that it makes fun of the development team, which was allegedly forced to rush the development of Modern Warfare 3.

The Modern Warfare 3 developers’ reactions, which were compiled by Charlie Intel, bring attention to some of the major problems that have affected the gaming industry in 2023, including crunch and job uncertainty amid layoffs at other major studios like Bungie. However, these reactions also brought attention to Modern Warfare 3’s flaws and the community’s demands for higher-quality Call of Duty entries. Despite Modern Warfare 3‘s success, it’s clear that fans expect more from the Call of Duty franchise, with 2024 and 2025 bringing a new slate of exciting games that will compete for a player’s time.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)

Released in November of 2023, Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) continues Captain Price’s story from the 2019 and 2022 games. 

Released

November 10, 2023

Genre(s)

First-Person Shooter

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Drugs