Call of Duty co-creator Vince Zampella dies in California Ferrari crash: What we know so far

Vince Zampella, the game developer best known for co-creating the Call of Duty franchise, has died in a car crash in California. He was 55. The accident happened on a Los Angeles highway on Sunday when the Ferrari he was travelling in crashed and caught fire.

Electronic Arts (EA), which owns Respawn Entertainment the company Zampella cofounded, confirmed his death in a post on X.

Police said the passenger was ejected from the vehicle while the driver remained trapped, and both died. It is not yet clear who was driving.


“For unknown reasons, the vehicle veered off the roadway, struck a concrete barrier, and became fully engulfed,” said a BBC report, citing the California Highway Patrol.

Who was Vince Zampella?

Zampella was one of the most influential names in the global video game industry. He served as CEO of Infinity Ward and helped create Call of Duty in 2003 with Jason West and Grant Collier.

Inspired partly by World War II, the game went on to sell more than 500 million copies worldwide. It turned Activision, now owned by Microsoft, into one of the world's most profitable gaming companies and also spawned an upcoming live-action film.

Zampella was also behind other popular games, including Medal of Honor, Titanfall, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Apex Legends, all of which earned strong followings. His work helped define modern first-person shooter games and influenced how action games are made today.

Zampella’s career: Rise and eventual firing

Before Call of Duty, Zampella was the development director on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (in 2002), a critically acclaimed title developed by 2015 Inc for Electronic Arts. When EA chose to take the franchise in-house, it cut ties with 2015 Inc and tried to hire the team directly, but the move did not succeed.

Then came Activision, and it offered Zampella and his team the chance to form their own studio. That studio became Infinity Ward, and its first project launched as Call of Duty in October 2003. Under Zampella, Infinity Ward produced the hugely successful Modern Warfare series.

However, disputes with Activision over contracts and royalties led to both founders being fired in 2010.

Rebuilding with Respawn and EA

After leaving Infinity Ward, Zampella cofounded Respawn Entertainment in 2010. EA later acquired the studio in 2017. At EA, Zampella also worked on Battlefield 6, a direct rival to Call of Duty.

Personal life

Zampella was married to Brigitte Zampella for 18 years, and they had three children together. In 2015, Brigitte filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences and sought primary custody of the children along with spousal support.