Treyarch head Mark Gordon leaves studio after almost 22 years

Treyarch studio head Mark Gordon is stepping down after almost 22 years at the Call of Duty developer to “focus on his next chapter,” with two long‑time Activision veterans set to replace him as co‑studio heads.

The details:

• Gordon joined Treyarch in 2005 as director of technology and became studio head in 2016, overseeing work on Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Call of Duty 3, World at War, and every entry in the Black Ops series up to and including Black Ops 7.
• Treyarch announced his departure in a public letter to fans on social media, praising his “steady guidance” and “immeasurable” impact on the franchise, but offering no specific reason beyond his desire to move on to a new phase of his career.
• Current COO Kevin Hendrickson and director of production Yale Miller will now run Treyarch together as co‑studio heads. The two veterans have decades of experience at Activision, having worked on several entries in the Call of Duty franchise, and are described by the studio as deeply aligned with its culture and creative ambitions.
• Gordon’s exit lands amid wider leadership upheaval and an ongoing “reset” across Xbox’s first‑party studios, though it's believed that the decision is not connected to the reported layoff plans.