DAN BUNTING
Game Development Executive | Angel Investor & Advisor
Former Co-Head, Treyarch Studios & Game Director, Call Of Duty
ABOUT
Dan Bunting
Game Development Executive
Angel Investor & Advisor
A proven game development executive, Bunting has more than two decades of experience, including 19 years building successful teams and games at Treyarch Studios, a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. At Treyarch, he was a key leader on the Call of Duty: Black Ops series and guided it through many successes, from its introduction in 2010 to its present signature status in the industry.
Bunting co-led teams of 400+ in-house developers and extensive outsourced teams around the globe and oversaw production budgets of well over $100 million per cycle, with releases every 2-3 years that regularly generated more than $1B in annual revenue.
When he was young, Bunting dreamed of becoming an architect, inspired by the idea of creating spaces that brought people together, sparked their curiosity, and filled them with joy. That same passion for building has fueled his career in creating blockbuster interactive experiences, nurturing top-performing product franchises, and leading world-class teams. Throughout this time, Bunting has used storytelling as his quintessential building material. He understands that stories have a unique ability to connect people with purpose, paint a picture of possibilities, and inspire teams around a clear vision.
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Under his leadership, Treyarch had one of the strongest retention levels in the industry: ~50% of full-time team members worked at the studio 10 years or more, a testament to employee satisfaction and investment in the team's long-term success. Bunting spearheaded studio culture initiatives, including developing a roadmap with concrete KPIs and goals towards improving diversity, equity, and inclusion.
He served as one of a handful of studio leaders involved in steering the Call of Duty franchise towards future growth and adaptation to a changing industry landscape. He led his team through significant late-cycle pivots when shifts were made to adapt to changes in the marketplace. Skilled in change management, Bunting guided the organization through business and development model transitions: from boxed product to games-as-a-service, from premium to free-to-play, from in-office to remote work, and from cyclically scaling development to stable year-round staffing in support of the larger franchise.
Throughout his career, Bunting has been privileged to work with incredible talent and on projects that allow him to pursue his native curiosity and his mission to help others achieve their potential. He believes that success comes from constant listening, learning, and embracing unexpected opportunities.
EXPERIENCE
Treyarch
Co-Studio Head
Studio Executive who co-led a 400+ person team through two release cycles and ongoing live ops, with deep creative focus on the teams of design, art, animation, sound, narrative, and creative direction, and deep business focus on marketing, PR, social media, and eSports strategy and execution. Oversaw studio organizational restructuring for streamlined workflow pipelines and improved people culture, in addition to a significant large-scale tech transition, while also shifting the team to a full work-from-home structure during a release year.
Game Director
Worked with creative team leads to develop the overarching vision for game, and led teams of designers, writers, artists, engineers, producers, animators, and sound designers in bringing game vision to life. During the post-launch years, partnered with the other principals and key leadership at studio to transform the launch experience into a games-as-a-service platform with robust social, commerce, and eSports/competition systems, and suite of compelling content to keep players engaged, setting a long-lasting benchmark in the franchise for sustained engagement and record-setting new user acquisition month-over-month.
Director, Online
Oversaw all aspects of development for multiplayer and online gameplay, including social, engagement, and competition systems, along with weapons, characters, vehicles, and combat systems development for the overall game.
FX Networks
Coordinating Producer
Managed production in the creation of on-air promotions, behind-the-scenes shorts, full-length documentaries, and graphics packages in promotion of the network and its programming, including production schedules, sourcing and scheduling of talent, transcription, travel arrangements, recording, filming and post-production services.