The head of Call of Duty makers Treyarch Studios is leaving his role after 22 years with Treyarch, ten of which he spent at the studio's helm. Now-former studio head Mark Gordon has announced he is leaving the studio, and entering his next chapter, though there's no indication yet as to what that is. He'll be replaced by Kevin Hendrickson and Yale Miller as co-studio heads, as the leadership shakeup across Xbox studios continues.
The news was revealed amidst a flurry of reports regarding other major shifts yet to be officially revealed at Xbox. That would be the all-but-confirmed closure of South of Midnight studio Compulsion Games and the potential shuttering of Double-Fine, Ninja Theory, and "several other studios."
That also includes the news that Xbox Game Studios' head and chief of staff have both left their roles, after years with Rare before they joined Xbox. Gordon is yet another major shift across Xbox and its studios today.
"After an extraordinary 22 years with Treyarch, our own Mark Gordon has decided to retire from his role as Studio Head to focus on his next chapter," the statement shared on the studio's social media channels begins. "We're incredibly grateful to Mark for his steady guidance and deep care for the studio, its culture, and its people."
Gordon has been working on Call of Duty games since Call of Duty 2, which means he takes with him years of experience with the franchise by stepping out the door. It's unfortunate to see veteran talent like this leave a place they've been for years, but in this case it spells something far worse is on the horizon.
With the upcoming layoffs looming over all of Xbox studios, while we've seen reports naming a few studios under threat of shuttering, there are more we still don't know about and even those that aren't getting shuttered could still suffer severe layoffs. Treyarch's place as one of the core Call of Duty studios likely protects it from being shuttered, but that doesn't protect it from layoffs. Gordon could be leaving as part of a larger cut to Treyarch that's still to come.
Regardless, it seems like the face of the industry is about to change, with more mass layoffs and studio closures that could see some of the most iconic studios in video game history get shuttered, if this all ends up being even worse than we already expect it to be.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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