{"id":22375,"date":"2025-12-23T12:17:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T04:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=22375"},"modified":"2025-12-23T12:17:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T04:17:34","slug":"call-of-duty-co-creator-respawn-co-founder-and-ea-executive-vince-zampella-killed-in-car-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=22375","title":{"rendered":"Call of Duty Co-Creator, Respawn Co-Founder, and EA Executive Vince Zampella Killed in Car Accident"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Vince Zampella, best known as the co-creator of the Call of Duty franchise and co-founder of Infinity Ward who went on to co-found Titanfall, Apex Legends, and Star Wars Jedi developer Respawn Entertainment, died in a single-car accident in Los Angeles on Sunday, NBC Los Angeles reports. He was 55 years old.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">According to the NBC report, &#8220;the single-car crash was reported at about 12:45 p.m. on the scenic road north of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains. The southbound car veered off the road, hit a concrete barrier and a passenger was ejected, the California Highway Patrol said. The driver was trapped in the ensuing car fire, the CHP said. The driver died at the scene and the passenger died at a hospital, authorities told NBC4 Investigates.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-video\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">NBC has updated its story to note that Zampella was the driver and the vehicle was a 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS, and that an eyewitness provided video of the crash to authorities. The passenger has not yet been publicly identified.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Zampella was an incredibly talented game developer who changed the industry with Call of Duty, a franchise he co-created with Jason West in 2003 at Infinity Ward, the studio he co-founded with West after previously serving as the lead designer for EA&#8217;s Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Zampella was at the center of a high-profile lawsuit against Activision that alleged that the publisher owed Zampella and the Infinity Ward team millions of dollars in unpaid Call of Duty royalties. The bitter professional divorce led to Zampella and West taking a substantial number of the Infinity Ward team with them to EA, where they co-founded Respawn Entertainment, a studio that has produced nothing but critically acclaimed hits: Titanfall (IGN review), Titanfall 2 (IGN review), Apex Legends (IGN review), Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (IGN review), and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (IGN review). <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Respawn&#8217;s success under Zampella led to him getting promoted twice, eventually overseeing the Battlefield franchise within his role as Group General Manager at EA.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><button type=\"button\" style=\"display:none\" class=\"jsx-2228525885\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\">\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">IN PICTURES: Call of Duty Co-Creator and Respawn Co-Founder Vince Zampella, Who Has Died Aged 55<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"Vince Zampella, chief executive officer of Respawn Entertainment LLC, stands for a photograph during an EA event ahead of the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon\/Bloomberg via Getty Images\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2021719738 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\" style=\"mask:url(https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/RightChevron.272be43c.svg) no-repeat center center \/ contain;background:currentColor\"\/><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">EA issued IGN the following statement:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince\u2019s family, his loved ones, and all those touched by his work. Vince\u2019s influence on the video game industry was profound and far-reaching. A friend, colleague, leader and visionary creator, his work helped shape modern interactive entertainment and inspired millions of players and developers around the world. His legacy will continue to shape how games are made and how players connect for generations to come.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Infinity Ward, the studio Zampella left to found Respawn, issued a statement of its own. In a post on Twitter \/ X, the Activision-owned Call of Duty developer said: &#8220;Rest in peace Vince. As one of the founders of Infinity Ward and Call of Duty, you will always have a special place in our history. Your legacy of creating iconic, lasting entertainment is immeasurable. Our deepest condolences to Vince\u2019s family and loved ones upon this terrible tragedy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Ryan McCaffrey is IGN&#8217;s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN&#8217;s weekly Xbox show, <\/em>Podcast Unlocked<em>, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, <\/em>IGN Unfiltered<em>. He&#8217;s a North Jersey guy, so it&#8217;s &#8220;Taylor ham,&#8221; not &#8220;pork roll.&#8221; Debate it with him on Twitter at <\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DMC_Ryan\" class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>@DMC_Ryan<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/call-of-duty-co-creator-respawn-co-founder-and-ea-executive-vince-zampella-killed-in-car-accident\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vince Zampella, best known as the co-creator of the Call of Duty franchise and co-founder of Infinity Ward who went on to co-found Titanfall, Apex&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[1538,965,2079,3330,7887,966,6726,3268,13959,4255,4256],"class_list":["post-22375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-accident","tag-call","tag-car","tag-cocreator","tag-cofounder","tag-duty","tag-executive","tag-killed","tag-respawn","tag-vince","tag-zampella","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}