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. VANGUARD released in 2021 for Xbox One/X/S, PlayStation 4/5, 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 had to fill a Systems Design role, learn a new skillset on the job, and quickly become self-sufficient as an individual contributor. Since that did NOT require Scripting or Technical Design skills, this was an atypical role for me which I was willing and able to adapt to. For development tools, I used SLEDGEHAMMER GAMES’s 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 DLC.

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 created all of the rest.

I worked on the following CHALLENGES performing those responsibilities:

CAREER & SEASON CHALLENGES – A variety of in-game achievements to unlock Calling Cards for ZOMBIES.

OPERATOR CHALLENGES – Character-centric in-game achievements to unlock Operators and their rewards.

WEAPON CHALLENGES – Kill Zombies with each weapon to unlock Camos and Reticles for that weapon.

I also wrote extensive documentation on how to create CHALLENGES before handing off my responsibilities for Season 2 and beyond.