Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is a 2014 first-person shooter game published by Activision. The eleventh major installment in the Call of Duty series, the game was developed by Sledgehammer Games for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One, while High Moon Studios developed the versions released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and Raven Software developed the game's multiplayer and the Exo-Zombies mode. Advanced Warfare was the first Call of Duty title to be developed primarily by Sledgehammer, following the supporting work the studio did on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 alongside Infinity Ward in 2011. Though the game was released on November 4, 2014, a special edition entitled the Day Zero Edition, which came with bonus in-game content, was released on November 3 for people who pre-ordered the game.
Before the development of Advanced Warfare, Sledgehammer were originally working on a game set during the events of the Vietnam War. Development for Advanced Warfare began in late 2011, shortly before the release of Modern Warfare 3. The game became the first entry in the Call of Duty series since Call of Duty 2 to feature a game engine that has had its majority re-written and built from scratch. For the game's single-player campaign mode, Sledgehammer employed veteran actors Troy Baker and Kevin Spacey in lead roles. The game's story features a futuristic setting, set between 2054 and 2061, and follows Jack Mitchell of the United States Marine Corps and his involvement with Atlas, a private military corporation that sells its services to the highest bidder.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was released to a positive critical reception and was declared an improvement over its predecessor, Call of Duty: Ghosts. Many critics praised the visuals, voice acting, single-player campaign, and the fast-paced gameplay, but some criticized the predictable plot in the single player campaign. The game won several awards and was considered a commercial success.
