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Just 24 hours following the Modern Warfare 3 reveal, former Treyarch Studio Design Director David Vonderhaar has announced he’s stepping away from both the Call of Duty studio and Activision.
David went more into his decision in a LinkedIn post, revealing that he was leaving the company after nearly two decades working on Call of Duty, across 8 of the series’ games – “I am immensely grateful for the time we invested working to improve our craft, never sitting on our successes and always wondering how to improve what we design and how we produce it.”
He also, of course, thanked the Call of Duty community for their “passion and enthusiasm” and went on to say “That energy has often fuelled 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 began his Call of Duty career all the way back on the console exclusive Call of Duty 2: Big Red One from 2005 as an Online Manager. He’d quickly move up to a senior role as Lead Multiplayer Designer on Call of Duty 3, and by the time of the Black Ops series he was the Studio Design Director, a position he largely held across the whole of that series until Black Ops 4, where he was mainly focused on the game’s Career mode until that was cancelled and the decision was made for BO4 to forego a true single player campaign. Instead, he’d work on Blackout, the battle royale mode that was sort of a precursor to today’s Call of Duty Warzone.
As for where David is going next, he’s staying tight-lipped for now – though he’s remaining in games. “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.
Call of Duty, of course, rolls on without him – with Treyarch currently working on Warzone as well working on Modern Warfare 3’s new Zombies mode. They offered their own goodbye to him on Twitter. “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. #ThankYouVahn.”
Meanwhile, Call of Duty 2023 got its big reveal last night – with the Modern Warfare 3 release date set for November 10.
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