You’re close - each game would take an 18 month dev cycle, but they had a six month pre-production. So there were two main teams who would “trade off” each year. A third “team” (people moving in from other projects) would support whichever game was closest to release.
It’s likely that number (16 months) includes pre-production, which is… Definitely short, and explains a lot of problems they’ve had.
(Source: I’ve worked in games for almost 20 years and know people who’ve worked at Activision (pre Blizzard) , Activision-Blizzard, Sledgehammer)
You’re close - each game would take an 18 month dev cycle, but they had a six month pre-production. So there were two main teams who would “trade off” each year. A third “team” (people moving in from other projects) would support whichever game was closest to release.
It’s likely that number (16 months) includes pre-production, which is… Definitely short, and explains a lot of problems they’ve had.
(Source: I’ve worked in games for almost 20 years and know people who’ve worked at Activision (pre Blizzard) , Activision-Blizzard, Sledgehammer)