Call of Duty zombies mastermind Jason Blundell leaves Treyarch

As we gear up for the Call of Duty 2020 news cycle, Treyarch co-studio head and zombies lead Jason Blundell is departing the studio. The man who has led the charge on the franchise’s popular co-op mode announced his farewell after 13 years of being at Treyarch.

In a statement, Blundell talked about his passion for Call of Duty zombies, the creative team behind it all, and thanked the fans. You can read it below.

“After thirteen fantastic, action-packed years, I am moving on from Treyarch. During my time at the studio, I’ve been privileged to work on a variety of projects, wearing many hats along the way, with my time on the Zombies team proving to be quite special. It’s a team comprised of some of the most creative and talented developers in the industry, many of whom you never see because they’re behind the scenes shaping the direction of each experience.

Clearly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t personally thank the group that continues to make it all worth it: the Zombies community! Your passion, enthusiasm – and frankly, your craziness – has been a continued source of inspiration. The beauty of Zombies is that it has always been about the interaction between us as developers and one of the most passionate player communities on the planet. These are memories I will cherish for a lifetime.

The team at Treyarch has been nothing short of awesome – thank you! And thank you to the fans for giving me the opportunity to bring life to the undead in so many wonderful ways, the honor has been all mine!”

Jason Blundell has been the face of the Call of Duty zombies community since the start. Blundell was there since Call of Duty: World at War when it was just a skeleton crew working on the mode since Activision didn’t officially back it themselves. The success of the mode was undeniable and became a staple of the franchise and Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops franchise in the 2010s.

Blundell served as director on the zombies mode on all four Black Ops titles and was promoted to studio co-head in 2016 given his significant contributions. The mode later became integrated into Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer’s Call of Duty offerings with the exception of Modern Warfare and Ghosts (which substituted aliens).

Sledgehammer Games was expected to develop Call of Duty 2020 but was pulled off the title last year for reasons that still remain unclear. Treyarch will now release their Call of Duty game a year ahead of schedule which is heavily rumored to be a reboot of the Black Ops series set during the Cold War.

While there’s nothing to back this up at the moment, Blundell’s departure could be reason for concern. Treyarch has been feeling intense pressure for years with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 reportedly having a troubled development. The 2018 shooter scrapped its campaign at the start of the year and then favored a battle royale. 2015’s Black Ops 3 also saw its campaign downscaled and completely rebooted through production.

Could similar things be happening with Call of Duty 2020? It’s totally up in the air but Blundell carried a lot of weight at that studio and may have needed a well-earned rest.