God of War actor Christopher Judge pokes fun at Modern Warfare 3's brevity: "my speech was longer than this year's Call of Duty campaign"

Kratos makes a sly expression in God of War Ragnarok
(Image credit: PlayStation/Zealousideal_Many215 on Reddit)

One God of War actor had some choice words for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s campaign while presenting The Game Awards 2023

Christopher Judge - the actor behind Kratos in the kind-of-rebooted God of War games - won the Best Performance accolade at last year’s show with an eight-minute-long speech. (A far cry from the unceremonious 20-30 seconds that this year’s winners received.) As such, the actor was back to present this year’s award to Baldur’s Gate 3 actor Neil Newbon, and he threw some shade at Activision before handing out gold.

“I’m not gonna stand up here making long speeches,” Judge jokes on stage. “I’m gonna stick to the script. No eight-minute speech like last year. But fun fact: my speech was longer than this year’s Call of Duty campaign.” Judge is, of course, digging at Modern Warfare 3’s controversial four-to-five-hour campaign that was widely derided upon release.

The newest single-player mode also received criticism for its shallow writing, filler content, and rigid objectives that kill you instantly for going off script. Our Modern Warfare 3 campaign review called the experience “underwhelming,” and considering the community reception, the game was clearly an easy target for jokes at the show. 

“Another company I’ll never work for,” Judge continued once the applause and shocked laughs died down, presumably referencing publisher Activision. 

Elsewhere at the undercover marketing fest, Sony Santa Monica announced that God of War: Ragnarok would receive free DLC coming December 12, available to all players across PS4 and PS5. The Valhalla DLC brings new combat challenges - horde modes, boss rushes, and more - in a roguelike wrapper. But be warned: you might want to jump in after completing the base game. 

Another PlayStation blockbuster, The Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered, is also receiving a roguelike mode. Although, that addition won’t be available for free

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

Read more
Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 boss Swen Vincke calls out industry layoffs, "short-sighted" decisions, "arbitrary sales targets," and more in his latest Game Awards speech: "Change is coming"
Metal Gear
In 1997, Hideo Kojima said the "one thing" he wanted to avoid in Metal Gear Solid was "tedious" cutscenes with characters "blabbering at each other for 4 or 5 minutes"
Cropped cover art for God of War: Ascension, showing Kratos with chains on his arms.
God of War: Ascension's online multiplayer is still kicking almost 12 years on, but its veterans will destroy you on sight: "Everyone who plays this right now is literally a God"
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War reportedly surpasses Red Dead Redemption 2's huge development costs, with a massive $700 million budget
God of War Ragnarok
God of War turns 20 this month, but before you get too excited, Santa Monica Studio says "there are no planned announcements" at its celebratory panel
Helldivers 2 Killzone crossover artwork with helldivers dressed in Helghast armor
"We've been listening to the response" - Helldivers 2 is making amends with fans upset over crossover prices by giving away Killzone 2 items for free
Latest in FPS
Counter-Strike 2 release trailer screenshot showing an old-style white desktop PC running the Counter-Strike menu atop a wooden desk
After concerns from Valve, creators of CS:GO mod that aimed to "recreate the 1.6 vibe" are now "auditing the current build" to comply with guidelines
Doom: The Dark Ages screenshot
Doom director claims The Dark Ages can be beaten without using a gun, but "the game's not necessarily built to do that"
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Battlefield dev reveals more of his Bad Company 3 script and confirms the plot would revolve around the squad getting kicked out of the military and brought back for a final suicide mission
A Titan readies for combat in an animated trailer for Apex Legends Season 19
Yet another Respawn shooter has reportedly been canceled, following the studio's Star Wars FPS and rumored Titanfall Legends game to the grave
A cropped screenshot from the pre-alpha gameplay footage shown in the 'Introducing Battlefield Labs' video.
Battlefield 6's first teaser takes me back to the days of Modern Warfare 2 lobbies and 24/7 Metro matches, proving we all crave a return to shooters' simpler times
Doom
Doom: The Dark Ages' new cutscenes exist because of fans' unlikely obsession with the series' lore: "A Doom game that doesn’t have a story is just an arcade game”
Latest in News
Overwatch 2
My hopes for an Overwatch anime or Diablo horror movie are going strong as Blizzard president points out "we are Blizzard Entertainment, and not simply Blizzard Games"
The New Thunderbolts leaping into action
Marvel's New Thunderbolts* comic steals the MCU's asterisk, and the reason why is just as big of a mystery
Pokemon Go players brace for the worst as Niantic is sold off for $3.5 billion: "This game is entering its death knell"
Stamp PSP
A 16-year-old pitch for a newly discovered first-party PSP game has me mourning the death of PlayStation's Japan Studio all over again
Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon says he "got rid of" agents who deliberately kept him away from video game gigs: "They just didn't want me to do it"
Mass Effect
Jennifer Hale says she didn't see a single line as Mass Effect's Commander Shepard until it was time to record: "It was all cold reading on the spot"