Treyarch Corporation ( ; formerly Treyarch Invention LLC) is an American video game developer based in Los Angeles with additional studio locations in Vancouver, Canada; and Austin, Texas. Founded in 1996 by Peter Akemann and Doğan Köslü, it was acquired by Activision in 2001. The studio is known for the Call of Duty series, which it develops alongside Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, and Raven Software.
History Treyarch was founded in 1996 as Treyarch Inventions and was acquired by Activision in 2001. In 2005, Gray Matter Studios was merged into Treyarch. As part of the 2007 Leipzig Games Convention, Activision announced that Treyarch would be one of three developers behind its first James Bond-based game, 007: Quantum of Solace. The game was released on October 31, 2008, in Europe and November 4, 2008, in North America. Vicarious Visions developed the Nintendo DS version and Eurocom developed the PlayStation 2 version.
Treyarch is a major developer in the Call of Duty franchise, having first worked on Call of Duty 2: Big Red One in 2005. The studio is known for creating the Black Ops sub-series. Call of Duty: Black Ops broke entertainment launch records in November 2010 by generating $360 million in its first 24 hours and selling 5.6 million copies. It reached $650 million worldwide within five days, and topped $1 billion in global retail sales within six weeks of its launch. Call of Duty: Black Ops won Best Shooter at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards. Its sequel, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, earned over $500 million in its first 24 hours, and sold over $1 billion after 15 days. Call of Duty: Black Ops III earned over $550 million in three days, and is the best-selling Call of Duty game of all time with over 43 million copies sold.
Fellow Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games was originally slated to lead the development of the 2020 entry but encountered internal tensions and creative differences with co-developer Raven Software. This led to publisher Activision tapping Treyarch to take over from Sledgehammer Games as co-developer for the game alongside Raven Software. This entry was later revealed to be Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Raven Software handled the game's campaign, while Treyarch led the development of the multiplayer and Zombies mode. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War set a new global franchise sales record for most digital units sold on launch day. Treyarch would continue its collaboration with Raven Software for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (2024), and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (2025).
Dan Bunting, who had been co-lead of Treyarch since around 2003, was named in an investigative report by The Wall Street Journal related to the lawsuit filed against Activision Blizzard by the state of California over workplace misconduct and discrimination. Bunting had reportedly mistreated an employee in 2017, but was kept on by Activision Blizzard's CEO, Bobby Kotick. After The Wall Street Journal began its investigation, Bunting was let go. On August 18, 2023, studio design director David Vonderhaar announced he would be leaving the studio after 18 years.
Aside from being a primary developer for the Call of Duty series, Treyarch also acts as a support studio. Treyarch assisted fellow Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward by working on the Wii version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in 2011 and the Wii U version of Call of Duty: Ghosts in 2013.
Game engines Treyarch developed an in-house engine named Treyarch NGL, based on id Software's id Tech 3. Treyarch NGL was used for Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (2005) and Call of Duty 3 (2006). Beginning in 2008, Treyarch uses fellow Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward's game engine called the IW engine, which is also based on id Tech 3. The studio used IW 3.0 for 007: Quantum of Solace (2008), Call of Duty: World at War (2008), Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010), and Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012).
With the introduction of the eighth generation of video game consoles, Treyarch heavily modified and upgraded the engine for Call of Duty: Black Ops III in 2015. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in 2018 features a new 'Super Terrain' system and can accommodate up to 100 players. Treyarch heavily upgraded the engine for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War in 2020, coinciding with the release of the ninth generation of video game consoles.
With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II in 2022, Treyarch co-developed the engine with Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games to be used in future installments of the series in a unified effort to ensure that every studio is working with the same tools. With the new shared engine dubbed IW 9.0, Treyarch was able to introduce a new movement system called 'Omnimovement' for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in 2024. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 also featured audio improvements and upgrades. This engine is also used in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 the following year.
Games developed Year Game Platform(s) Note(s) 1998 Olympic Hockey '98 Nintendo 64 Die by the Sword Windows Die by the Sword: Limb from Limb 1999 Triple Play 2000 Nintendo 64 2000 Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm Dreamcast Triple Play 2001 PlayStation Max Steel: Covert Missions Dreamcast 2001 Triple Play Baseball Windows, PlayStation, PlayStation 2Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2xXboxCo-developed with Neversoft 2002 NHL 2K2 Dreamcast Spider-Man GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows Kelly Slater's Pro SurferGameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows, macOS NHL 2K3GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox Minority Report: Everybody RunsPlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube 2004 Spider-Man 2PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube 2005 Ultimate Spider-ManWindows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube Call of Duty 2: Big Red OnePlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube 2006 Call of Duty 3 PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360 2007 Spider-Man 3 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows 2008 Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360Co-developed with Shaba Games 007: Quantum of Solace Call of Duty: World at War Wii version co-developed by Exakt Entertainment 2010 Call of Duty: Black Ops Windows, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 2012 Call of Duty: Black Ops II Windows, Wii U, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 2015 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One 2018 Call of Duty: Black Ops 42020 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Co-developed with Raven Software, worked on multiplayer and Zombies modes 2021 Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies and Ranked Play modes 2022 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Ranked Play modeCall of Duty: Warzone 2.0Ranked Play mode2023Call of Duty: Modern Warfare IIIZombies and Ranked Play modes, assisted Sledgehammer Games2024Call of Duty: Black Ops 6Co-developed with Raven Software, worked on multiplayer and Zombies modes2025Call of Duty: Black Ops 7Co-developed with Raven Software
Ports developed Year Game Platform(s) Developer(s) 2000 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Dreamcast Neversoft Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 2001 Spider-Man 2009 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex Wii Infinity Ward 2011 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 2013 Call of Duty: Ghosts Wii U
References
External links
Treyarch's profile at MobyGames Treyarch's work at CallofDutyMaps