Legendary Call of Duty veteran designer David Vonderhaar has officially announced his departure from Treyarch after 18 years and 8 different titles. Vonderhaar’s work can primarily be seen in the Black Ops series, from the original game up until the most recent entry Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
The Call of Duty series has been around for 20 years and has produced nearly 20 mainline games in that time. Throughout the decades, a lot of talent has come and gone, but few have stuck around as long and been as prolific within Call of Duty as David Vonderhaar. His departure announcement certainly comes as a shock to many diehard fans of the series.
Vonderhaar Leaves Treyarch and Call of Duty
The announcement came via a post on Vonderhaar’s LinkedIn. He writes, “Today I am sharing that I have left Activision and Treyarch after an incredible 18 years and 8 Call of Duty games.” David first joined Treyarch to work on the second entry to the series Call of Duty 2: Big Red One. He’s since worked on every subsequent Treyarch Call of Duty game in various capacities, from overseeing Black Ops 4‘s Blackout mode to leading the development of Black Ops Cold War‘s Fireteam mode. He’s also done some work on Call of Duty‘s popular battle royale mode Warzone.
As far as Vonderhaar’s future, he says he fully intends to stay within the gaming industry and already has a new project he’s working on but can’t disclose what it is just yet. Vonderhaar writes, “Thank you to the Call of Duty community for your passion and enthusiasm. That energy has often fueled our determination as a studio and individuals. I will always be grateful for the opportunity to interact with so many of you directly online and in person. This energy will always be a massive part of me.” His departure will certainly be felt in future Treyarch-led entries to the Call of Duty franchise.
