Call of Duty creator Vince Zampella dies at age 55 in a car accident

Zampella’s career is inextricably linked to the evolution of the modern first-person shooter. After his debut in the mid-nineties and his fundamental contribution to the Medal of Honor series, in 2002 he co-founded the Infinity Ward studio together with Grant Collier and Jason West. It is in this context that the Call of Duty franchise came to life, a colossus capable of selling over 500 million copies globally and redefining the standards of the war genre, in particular with seminal chapters such as Modern Warfare (2007) and its 2009 sequel.

Zampella’s professional path was also marked by the ability to reinvent himself. After a turbulent split from Activision in 2010, which culminated in a notorious legal battle over unpaid royalties, he founded Respawn Entertainment under the umbrella of Electronic Arts. Even in this new phase it has been able to establish itself on the market, first launching the series of mech shooters Titanfall and subsequently the multiplayer phenomenon Apex Legends. Most recently, he took over oversight of the Battlefield franchise, the sixth installment of which hit the market last October to critical acclaim.

Electronic Arts confirmed the news through an official note, calling the loss unimaginable and expressing closeness to the family. In the statement, the publisher highlighted how Zampella’s influence on the video game industry was profound and far-reaching, remembering him not only as a visionary leader, but as a creator whose work has concretely shaped the interactive entertainment of the last twenty years, leaving a legacy that will continue to influence the way in which video games are developed.