Christopher Judge's Call of Duty campaign joke didn't land with some developers

God of War actor Christopher Judge made another memorable appearance at last week's The Game Awards, this time to present an award rather than receive one - and to make a joke at Modern Warfare 3's expense.

(Or perhaps he never really left the stage, and simply continued last year's infamously-long acceptance speech?)

This year, Judge raised eyebrows and prompted sounds of shock from the audience when he compared the length of his 2022 speech to this year's short Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 campaign. "My speech was actually longer," he joked.

The quip did not land well with some on social media, however, including members of the Modern Warfare 3 development staff.

Modern Warfare 3's development at studio Infinity Ward was reportedly far shorter than normal, in a bid to ensure the expansion-turned-full release was ready for Activision to launch this year.

"Funny," said ex-Infinity Ward staff member Ajinkya Limaye, in a social media post that has now been deleted. "But yeah, the metrics that Call of Duty absolutely destroys all of the God of War games (probably combined to be honest) is also equally laughable (if not more)."

Limaye later followed up with a further message: "Deleted the tweet as it was causing unnecessary attention and was meant as backhanded response to a joke that felt quite tough to hear given all the circumstances of development. Not conveyed well and so apologies for that! Obviously no hate towards GoW! Peace ✌️"

"Honestly, as Call of Duty developers, we've heard way worse," wrote another Call of Duty developer, who later also removed their initial social post after stating they had subsequent received abuse and death threats.

"But I stand by this completely," they continued. "The chronic overworking, brutal deadlines and ruthless layoffs that is absolutely rampant in our industry, in the name of making profit, regardless of the human cost, is an absolute fucking disgrace."

"This has been a labour of love to lead the first ever back-to-back sequel in Call of Duty," Sledgehammer Games boss Aaron Halon said in response to reports about the game's shortened development. "We have worked hard to deliver on this vision which has been years in the making. Anything said to the contrary is simply not true."

Eurogamer's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 campaign review noted that the game had been "clearly rushed to market".