Sledgehammer on Spacey: "He elevated the cast performance around him"

E3 2014 was a big deal for Sledgehammer Games, and as we caught up with founders Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, they were positively abuzz.

"To open E3 2014 with Microsoft with our opening level of the game I couldn't be more proud," says Michael Condrey. "I couldn't be more proud of the game, the team, and I don't know... it was all pride and adrenaline. And all that good stuff."

"It's just wonderful to see it up there and it sounded great," added Schofield. "And then you hear the crowd, right, and they "oh'd and aww'd" at the right time, right when we expected."

Steering clear of multiplayer questions, Schofield did have this to say about what is likely the most anticipated part of Advanced Warfare:

"You know we're not talking about multiplayer that much. Well, not at all really. Except that we can say that the exo-skeleton does go across the whole game. So if you can imagine what we do in singleplayer, nah, just use your imagination."

Another big deal about Advanced Warfare is the inclusion of Kevin Spacey as Jonathan Irons, the leader of the world's largest private military company and a man with big ambitions it would seem.

"The story was written with Kevin in mind," says Condrey. "And really from day one the narrative was built around him as Jonathan Irons. And then the chance for Activision to say "if that's the character, go get him, bring him onboard" that was amazing for us. And really, Call of Duty as a place for him to embrace new fans. I mean he's cutting edge with Netflix and House of Cards. Like he's willing to take some chances to reach new fans and so awesome opportunity for best in class Hollywood performance to come to Call of Duty. He's been excited, it's been a pleasure to work with him. It's really been great for the game."

"It's not green screen, it's performance capture," says Schofield. "So he's in a full suit, he's got the camera on and he's got sensors on his face and they are acting. Just as they would in Hollywood on a set there."

"He comes on and he'll add to the script. And he'll add to the dialogue, which has been really, almost magical for us."

Condrey added: "He's a pro's pro. He really is. And he came in and he wanted to understand all of Jonathan Irons and with that he's sort of able to lift the performance of the cast around him. And we've got a great cast. We've got Troy Baker as you know, and we got a really great addition of a woman as a Tier 1 operator, and we've got a number of other cast members and they all came together and he not only elevated the idea of Jonathan Irons, but sort of the cast performance around him."