NBC reports that Vince Zampella, co-founder of Call of Duty studio Infinity Ward and head of Respawn and Ripple Effect at Electronic Arts, has died. Zampella was killed on Sunday after his car veered off the road in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles and struck a concrete barrier. Another occupant of the car was also killed in the crash.
Zampella, one of the best known figures in the videogame industry, found early success at 2015 Inc, serving as the lead designer of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. He co-founded Infinity Ward with Grant Collier and Jason West in 2002, where they created Call of Duty, which quickly became one of the biggest series in the game industry.
After an acrimonious split with Activision following Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Zampella and West founded Respawn Entertainment in 2010 and returned to Electronic Arts. In the years since, Respawn released a pair of critically acclaimed Titanfall games, Apex Legends, and the Star Wars Jedi games.
Zampella told Gamasutra (via the Wayback Machine) in 2011 that the nature of his split with Activision, sparked by a contract dispute, played a central role in the decision to found Respawn. “In my opinion, the deal we had [with Activision]—had it been honored—was a great deal. But you need control, ” Zampella said. “If you want people to be invested, you have to put something into it. It’s an industry that demands that you put a lot of yourself into it; it’s creative, it’s driven by what you’re going to put into it, the end product.
“So if you want people to be invested, who are putting their hearts and souls into it, they need to feel like it’s protected, and what they do means something.”
In 2020, Zampella was tapped to lead DICE LA, later renamed to Ripple Effect, and a year later he took over as head of the Battlefield franchise as a whole. And while Battlefield was definitely his baby, he wasn’t shy about calling it out when he felt it necessary: When the Battlefield 6 launch went sideways of the EA App, Zampella urged people to refund the game and buy it on Steam instead. Battlefield 6 launched to widespread acclaim and quickly became the best-selling game in the franchise, according to Circana.
The cause of the crash is not currently known, but the NBC report says another occupant in the vehicle was also killed. Vince Zampella was 55.
