» Call of Duty: Vanguard

Game Overview

CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD is a historical military themed first-person shooter featuring MULTIPLAYER, single-player CAMPAIGN, and co-op ZOMBIES horde modes. ZOMBIES mode was developed by TREYARCH as a support studio for SLEDGEHAMMER GAMES. VANGUARD released in 2021 for Xbox One & Series X/S, PlayStation 4 & PS5, and PC.

Role Overview

As an Intermediate Designer at TREYARCH, I created CHALLENGES for the ZOMBIES mode progression systems of CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD. I filled a Systems Design role (an atypical role for me), learned a new skillset while on the job, and quickly became self-sufficient as an individual contributor creating content in an essential role with a tight deadline. VANGUARD was developed using SLEDGEHAMMER GAMES’s S3 game engine, where my work was done in their proprietary data editor. I worked on VANGUARD for 3 months in the late stages of development through the ship dates for the base game and Season 1 D.L.C.

System Spotlight

In CALL OF DUTY, CHALLENGES are progression systems analogous to in-game achievements. CAMPAIGN, MULTIPLAYER and ZOMBIES mode each have their own set of dozens of CHALLENGES. Rewards for completing each challenge can take the form of Calling Cards (i.e. banners for your profile), special Camos & Reticles for each of your weapons, Operators (avatars), and miscellaneous bonuses.

Specific Responsibilities

I was responsible for creating the vast majority of ZOMBIES CHALLENGES in the game. I took over ZOMBIES CHALLENGES at an early stage with only a few already done and made all of the rest.

I worked on the following CHALLENGES performing those responsibilities:

CAREER & SEASON CHALLENGES – A variety of thematic progressions to unlock Calling Cards for ZOMBIES.

OPERATOR CHALLENGES – Character-centric progressions to unlock Operators and their bonuses.

WEAPON CHALLENGES – Weapon-specific progressions to unlock Camos and Reticles for that weapon.

I also wrote extensive documentation on how to make CHALLENGES using SLEDGEHAMMER GAMES’s data editor before handing off my responsibilities for Season 2 and beyond.

Credits