David Vonderhaar (born September 8, 1972) is an American video game developer and game designer. He is best known for his work on the Call of Duty Black Ops franchise.^[1]

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Vonderhaar began his career at Activision as a quality assurance tester, web designer and online manager for several titles. In 2006, Vonderhaar lead the design of Call of Duty 3 and several other Call of Duty titles developed by Treyarch. He designed the multiplayer systems for Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops II, along with the campaign, multiplayer and free run modes for Call of Duty: Black Ops III.^[2]

Vonderhaar led the design systems for the career and multiplayer experiences of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, before transitioning to full-time development on blackout after career's cancellation.^[3][4][5] He also worked on the multiplayer of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and its Fireteam modes.^[6]

On August 18, 2023, Vonderhaar announced his departure from Treyarch, revealing he is working on an unannounced project.^[7][8][9]

Vonderhaar has a competitive-focused agenda and is inspired by Esports gameplay design. Vonderhaar has spoken on the development of League Play, a competitive mode introduced in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and their goal to make Treyarch games "fun to play, and fun to watch".^[10] Starting with Call of Duty: Black Ops, Vonderhaar worked closely with competitive players and Esports professionals to improve the spectating and gameplay experience of Call of Duty.^[11]