David Vonderhaar, a veteran developer on Call of Duty: Black Ops has opened up a new studio called BulletFarm focusing on AAA game development in partnership with NetEase. The new studio is being touted as a “remote-first” game development company and will operate from Los Angeles, California.
Having left Treyarch last year during the summer, Vonderhaar had been part of the Call of Duty series since the original game in 2003. He has worked on eight games in the franchise and played a pivotal role in directing the multiplayer modes of almost all Call of Duty games.
Vonderhaar will act as the creative director of BulletFarm, and will be joined by Chris Cowell, who has also worked on multiple Call of Duty games including Warzone, Black Ops, and Modern Warfare from 2019.
BulletFarm’s New AAA Game From David Vonderhaar Has High Aims
NetEase also announced that BulletFarm is already working on a new and “ambitious AAA game” that will be made using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5. The game will of course be an original IP and will focus on cooperative gameplay. Needless to say, the new title will be a first-person experience, but the studio is promising a “fresh take” on first-person games. We’ve heard that before with EA’s Immortals of Aveum.
The first-person shooter genre is already saturated, and with BulletFarm’s lofty goals, it will have to shake things up and make something original yet familiar to succeed. According to Vonderhaar, the new studio will let him step out of his comfort zone and be more creative.
BulletFarm’s new AAA game will focus more on relatable and likable characters, intimate storytelling, and of course, action-focused first-person gameplay. Since the studio has just started out, the announcement of the actual game is likely years away. But in an industry teeming with layoffs, it’s good to see new studios popping up and creating opportunities for developers.
There are many open roles available at the newborn studio, and you can check them out at the official website here.
