Longtime Call of Duty veteran, David Vonderhaar, the studio design director at Treyarch who helmed the Black Ops franchise has left after 18 years since he first joined almost two decades ago in 2004. This news met with mixed reactions from Call of Duty fans who were excited and awaiting Modern Warfare 3 but were shocked as the veteran announced on his LinkedIn that he is leaving Activision and Treyarch after 8 Call of Duty games and 18 splendid years.
Call of Duty Veteran Quits Activision and Treyarch
In a heartfelt LinkedIn post, David Vonderhaar began by thanking all his colleagues at Treyarch and appreciated their dedication to always improving their craft and not sitting on the games’ successes. He also thanked the COD community and the energy that they brought to the studio. In the LinkedIn post, he said,
“Today I am sharing that I have left Activision and Treyarch after an incredible 18 years and 8 Call of Duty games. To my co-workers at Treyarch, I am immensely grateful for the time we invested working to improve our craft, never sitting on successes, and always wondering how to improve what we design and how we produce it.”
He further added,
“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. I am staying in the games industry, working on an undisclosed project I can’t discuss yet, but I am excited about a rare and unique opportunity. I’ll update you as soon as possible.”
Vonderhaar did not reveal why he was leaving Activision. However, he mentioned that he will stay in the video games industry and is working on an announced project that he can’t discuss at the moment. He assured the fans to share updates on the project soon and described it as a rare and unique opportunity. Treyarch also thanked Vonderhaar on X for his contribution and wished him well for his next venture.
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Call of Duty Games Under the Tenure of David Vonderhaar
David Vonderhaar joined Treyarch in 2004 as an online manager and climbed to the position of studio design director. A total of eight COD games came under the tenure of David Vonderhaar at Treyarch including highly popular Black Ops franchise titles. He is well known for heading the Black Ops franchise which had five games with the latest title being Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War. Vonderhaar led the team on campaigns and multiplayer modes in the franchise.
David Vonderhaar has also worked on Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Call of Duty 3, and World at War before the Black Ops games. The designer also contributed to Advanced Warfare and led the battle royale scene at Activision with Blackout which later evolved as Call of Duty: Warzone.
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Source: Kotaku and Games Radar
