After spending 18 years at Treyarch and helping create several Call of Duty titles, David Vonderhaar announced a new studio and an AAA game to go with it.
In August 2023, Vonderhaar left Treyarch. The innovative dev started as an online manager for CoD: Big Red in 2005 before working as a Multiplayer design director for CoD: 3 and World at War. Then, Vonderhaar led the charge on the competitive mode and the campaign for the Black Ops series and would later help pave CoD’s future in the battle royale genre by overseeing the development of Blackout and the original Warzone.
As part of his farewell announcement, Vonderhaar hinted at a new “undisclosed opportunity,” and fans now have a clearer picture of what’s in store.
David Vonderhaar announces new studio, BulletFarm
On Feb. 28, Vonderhaar revealed, “We’ve started a new game studio, called BulletFarm! Many thanks to those who took the time to put the pieces together over these past 3 days.”
The former CoD developer included a link to the new studio’s website, which provided a description of the team’s first project.
“BulletFarm is currently developing a new and ambitious AAA game, built in Unreal Engine 5 and set in an original universe with an emphasis on cooperative gameplay. The game will craft a more intimate and relatable experience while offering a fresh take on first-person gameplay.”
BulletFarm emphasized that its titles will be standalone and won’t have battle passes or annualized releases.
Vonderhaar joins a list of COD developers leaving to start new projects. Most recently, Infinity Ward’s executive producer, Mark Rubin, left to create XDefiant, which is still in the final stages of development.
