Veteran Call of Duty developer and Studio Head at TreyarchMark Gordon, has stepped down following an impressive 20-year-long career spearheading some of the franchise's biggest hits. Mark Gordon's departure from Treyarch comes after a spree of notable departures from various Xbox studios following announcements that layoffs are coming to multiple departments.
Treyarch has been one of the lead development studios for Call of Duty ever since it was tasked with porting Call of Duty 2: Big Red One to consoles while Infinity Ward handled the original version on PC. Since then, the studio has been at the forefront of some of Call of Duty's biggest hits and franchises, including the entirety of the Black Ops series, which is now an expected release alongside Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare games year-to-year. Unfortunately, Call of Duty has hit a bit of a down year, with Black Ops 7 underperforming with fans, but even a down year for Call of Duty still means the game is among the most played on consoles and PC.
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Longtime Treyarch Developer Leaves Following Stories 20-year Long Career
Announced on Twitter on June 15, 2026, developer Mark Gordon has retired from his role as Studio Head at Treyarch after an incredible 22 years at the company. The post by Treyarch's official Twitter account notes that Gordon's work spans some of Call of Duty's greatest hits, including Call of Duty 2: Big Red One in 2005, World at Warand the entirety of the Black Ops series, culminating in the recent Black Ops 7. In his place, Treyarch's Kevin Hendrickson and Yale Miller, both of whom have been with the company for about a decade, will be Co-Studio Heads. No explicit reason was given as to why Gordon is departing, except that he would like to “focus on his next chapter.”
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The details surrounding this departure are vague, and it could very well be that Mark Gordon felt 22 years was enough time at Treyarch, but it does come at a precarious time for studios currently under Xbox's wing. Following a pretty great showing at the Xbox Games Showcase for 2026, multiple reports have come out stating that Xbox will be planning significant layoffs in the coming weeks as the company restructures under its new CEO, Asha Sharma. According to some reports, Xbox is planning to significantly downsize, potentially even closing entire studios. In the days since these reports came out, longtime Xbox Game Studios developers have begun leaving for reasons that are currently vague or unknown, similar to Mark Gordon.
Besides Mark Gordon's departure from Treyarch, Xbox Game Studios head Craig Duncan has also departed from his post, along with the Chief of Staff Louise O'Connor, both of whom had long tenures at Rare before joining Xbox Game Studios. As far as actual studio closures go, the news is looking pretty grim for some of Xbox's smaller development teams. South of Midnight's Compulsion Games is reportedly on track to be closed down, or in negotiations with Microsoft about its future, while Ninja Theory and Double Fine might also be on the table.
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Additionally, if the potential closure of some of Xbox's most celebrated studios isn't enough, Microsoft apparently believes the entirety of Xbox is on the table for sale as well, leading to many questions about the future of the Xbox business. Mark Gordon's departure from Treyarch could be unfortunate timing, but given the current circumstances, fans may wonder if something is brewing at Treyarch, especially after a lackluster 2025 with Black Ops 7. It is a potentially frightening and transformative time for Xbox and the studios under its umbrella, and hopefully, it all works out for a better Xbox business model in the future.
