Call of Duty Veteran David Vonderhaar Is Making a Shooter Inspired by David Lynch
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Call of Duty veteran David Vonderhaar is developing a new shooter at his studio BulletFarm, describing the project as a surreal, Lynchian experience built with a smaller team and independent backing.
David Vonderhaar is ready to show what comes after Treyarch. The veteran designer who helped shape the Call of Duty Black Ops series is building a brand new shooter at his studio BulletFarm. Speaking with Bloomberg, Vonderhaar described the upcoming project with a striking pitch, calling it the kind of game you get if David Lynch made shooters. BulletFarm is developing the title alongside GreaterThan Group, a holding company founded by former NetEase executive Simon Zhu. This new partnership comes after NetEase previously pulled financial support from the studio during a wider round of corporate restructuring.
Unlike the massive multi-studio efforts behind modern military blockbusters, BulletFarm is operating with a much leaner team of around 50 developers and an initial budget pool of roughly 40 million dollars. Vonderhaar is leaning heavily into that smaller scale as a creative advantage. He noted that massive budgets and teams numbering in the thousands do not automatically translate to better design, stating that people make games good rather than money. The project is explicitly not positioned as a Call of Duty killer, moving far away from traditional military simulation spaces to focus instead on player versus player versus environment gameplay with an estimated three year development cycle.
While the industry is no stranger to veteran led studios trying to recapture past magic, the combination of Vonderhaar's pedigree and a surrealist aesthetic makes this one to watch. The Black Ops series has always dabbled in splintered timelines and psychological weirdness, so pivoting toward the uncanny valley of a Lynchian shooter feels like a natural evolution for a creator who knows how to bend player expectations. As digital storefronts and live service titles continue to crowd out mid tier experimentation, seeing an experienced team trade nine figure budgets for creative freedom is a welcome shift for players who want something genuinely distinct.
Original reporting by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell over at Rock Paper Shotgun.
Tags: David Vonderhaar, BulletFarm, Shooter, Industry News, GreaterThan Group
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun