Treyarch studio head Mark Gordon is retiring from the Call of Duty studio after 22 years, ten of which he spent as studio head.
In a post today on Twitter from the official Treyarch account, the studio made the announcement, saying Gordon would be retiring from his role “to focus on his next chapter.”
“Mark’s impact on the franchise has been immeasurable, from Call of Duty 2: Big Red One and Call of Duty 3, to World at War and the entirety of the Black Ops series,” the statement continues.
Thank you, Mark. 🧡 pic.twitter.com/ZhgY5mXeWc
— Treyarch (@Treyarch) June 15, 2026
Gordon started in the gaming industry as a programmer, and was hired at Treyarch in 2005 initially as CTO, the same year Treyarch released its first Call of Duty game, Call of Duty 2: Big Red One. He became studio head in 2016 alongside Dan Bunting and Jason Blundell. Blundell departed in 2020 to found the since-shuttered Deviation Games, and Bunting departed in 2021 following a Wall Street Journal investigation into a sexual harassment claim filed against him years before, leaving Gordon the sole studio head through the releases of Call of Duty: Vanguard, Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 6, and Black Ops 7, all of which Treyarch either co-developed directly or supported on.
Current COO Kevin Hendrickson and director of production Yale Miller will take on Gordon’s role together as co-studio heads. Both are long-time veterans of the Call of Duty series, both through Treyarch and Activision before it.