Treyarch Head Mark Gordon Steps Down from Call of Duty Studio

Treyarch studio head Mark Gordon will be leaving the studio after 22 years.

Treyarch announced the news on its socials, confirming that Gordon is leaving to begin the next chapter of his career, which has yet to be announced. Yale Miller and Kevin Hendrickson will take over as co-studio heads going forward. Miller and Hendrickson have been with Activision for years, with numerous respective credits on the Call of Duty franchise.

Gordon’s departure comes just a few years after Treyarch’s studio design director, David Vonderhaar — who was best known for overseeing the multiplayer modes in the Black Ops franchise — left to start his own studio.

Treyarch isn’t expected to have a new Call of Duty game for another two years, so long as there aren’t any major changes or disruptions to the Call of Duty development cycle. Infinity Ward will release Modern Warfare 4 later this year, and Sledgehammer Games is expected, though not confirmed, to release a new entry in the franchise next year.

It’s unclear if Treyarch is producing another Black Ops game. Although Black Ops 6 was a success, Black Ops 7 was considered a commercial disappointment and marked a fall from grace for the series. In the meantime, there are all kinds of rumors that suggest Activision and Treyarch are planning to re-release Black Ops 1 and 2 for modern hardware. Activision has yet to confirm anything, but fans found listings for the games in PlayStation’s backend.

Treyarch also recently updated Black Ops 7 with a new playlist known as Black Ops Classic. The playlist features old-school Black Ops maps and makes major changes to the gameplay to be more in line with the original Black Ops games. Some speculated it may be planting seeds for the re-releases.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.