Summary
After nearly 19 years working at Treyarch, longtime veteran David Vonderhaar has officially left theCall of Dutydevelopment studio. The former employee was a Studio Design director at the studio ever since 2004, with his first credited role in the franchise beingCall of Duty 2: Big Red Oneon the PS2. Ever since then, Vonderhaar has been responsible for the development of the multiplayer systems for variousCall of Dutygames, some of them being the most critically lauded in the franchise. He then became the Studio Design Director fortheBlack Opsfranchiseand held this position up until his departure.
Some of Vonderhaar’s credits for recent releases in the franchise include2020’sBlack Ops: Cold Waralong withCall of Duty: Warzone, the latter due to Treyarch assisting Infinity Ward with its development and content. While the former Studio head was responsible for some of the most acclaimed parts of the franchise, he has left the studio after nearly two decades.
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This announcement was posted to Vonderhaar’s Linked page, where he shared a sentimental message to both theCall of Dutycommunityand his followers on the website. He thanked the passionate community for their enthusiasm, which he noted helped fuel the developers at the studio. He thanked those who allowed him on board and trusted him with the franchise, expressing his gratitude for the opportunity to interact with many individuals online and in person.
Vonderhaar states that he won’t be leaving the gaming industry entirely, but his next path is currently unknown. He was such an influential figure within Treyarch that variousCall of DutyNPCs and bots in the franchise were named after him. There were some rumors regarding Vonderhaar leaving theCall of Dutystudio back in 2019, due to some cryptic tweets that seemed to point towards his eventual departure. These however were deleted shortly afterward, with Vonderhaar staying with the studio for a little bit longer.
With a departure as big as Vonderhaar’s, Treyarch will likely have to spend some time finding the right person to fill that void. In terms ofCall of Dutytitles currently in development, Treyarch will be assisting Sledgehammer Games with the 2023 release ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Alongside general assistance, the studio has been in charge ofModern Warfare 3’s Zombies mode, with this iteration of the classic multiplayer mode being open-world. The third entry in the re-imaginedModern Warfaretrilogy is set to release this November.
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