Treyarch head Mark Gordon leaves Activision after 22 years

Mark Gordon’s exit closes a 22-year run at Treyarch just as the studio is carrying Black Ops 7 and the next Call of Duty cycle hangs in the balance. Treyarch confirmed the departure in an official statement on its social channels and said Gordon is leaving to begin the next chapter of his career.

The studio moved quickly to frame the handoff as a continuity play. Yale Miller and Kevin Hendrickson will serve as co-studio heads going forward, and Treyarch said both have been with Activision for years with multiple credits across the Call of Duty franchise. That matters now because the studio is still actively supporting Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, not simply winding down one project before the next begins.

Treyarch’s own description of the studio puts the moment in sharper focus. The company says it has been making games since 1996 and calls itself the creator of Black Ops and the birthplace of Call of Duty Zombies. Black Ops 7 is set in 2035 and centers on David Mason, Frank Woods and Raul Menendez, a storyline that keeps one of Call of Duty’s most recognizable branches squarely under Treyarch’s stewardship while the leadership change settles in.

Gordon’s departure also comes after other major Treyarch turnover in recent years. David Vonderhaar, the longtime studio design director who was one of the key figures behind Black Ops multiplayer, left in 2023 and later helped launch BulletFarm. For a studio that has helped define both the competitive side of Call of Duty and the Zombies brand, the loss of another long-serving leader is more than a personnel note. It raises a real question about how much of Treyarch’s institutional memory remains intact as Black Ops 7 moves forward.

For now, the official message points to a managed transition rather than a public shake-up, and Activision has not detailed any broader organizational change. Still, with Treyarch not expected to have a new Call of Duty game for about two years, Gordon’s exit lands at a sensitive point in the release cycle, right when creative continuity matters most.