Call of Duty veteran David Vonderhaar leaves Treyarch after 18 years at the developer

David Vonderhaar, longtime Call of Duty lead, has announced he has left Activision and Treyarch.

As spotted by CharlieIntel, Vonderhaar recently shared a post on his LinkedIn announcing that he has left Treyarch after working at the company for 18 years as a design director, best known for his work on the Black Ops line of 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,” Vonderhaar wrote in his announcement post.

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“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.

Vonderhaar also confirmed that he is staying in the games industry, saying he’s “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.”

Treyarch itself put out a statement on its official Twitter account, saying, “Farewell to the legendary David Vonderhaar, whose discipline, creativity & innovation helped shape our games from COD 2: Big Red One to Black Ops Cold War. His iconic phrases & groundbreaking ideas will be missed. Excited for your next adventure.”

Of course, while Vonderhaar might be leaving Treyarch, that obviously isn’t the end of Call of Duty. In fact, the next title in the long running series, Modern Warfare 3, is due out this November, and just had its gameplay reveal trailer earlier this week. One thing to note about the upcoming shooter is that it won’t have any original 6v6 maps. But on the plus side, all of your unlocks and purchases from Modern Warfare 2 will carry over at least.