Vince Zampella, the co-creator of the blockbuster video game franchise Call of Duty, has died in a car crash in California at the age of 55.
His death was confirmed by Electronic Arts, which owns Respawn Entertainment, the studio Zampella co-founded.
The influential video game developer was travelling in a Ferrari with another person when the vehicle crashed and caught fire on a highway in Los Angeles on Sunday.
“This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince’s family, his loved ones, and all those touched by his work,” a spokesperson for Electronic Arts said.
Officials said the passenger was ejected from the vehicle while the driver remained trapped inside. It is not yet known whether Zampella was driving or who the other occupant was. Both people in the car were killed.
“For unknown reasons, the vehicle veered off the roadway, struck a concrete barrier, and became fully engulfed,” the California Highway Patrol said in a statement.
Zampella created Call of Duty in 2003 alongside long-time collaborators Jason West and Grant Collier.
Partly inspired by World War II, the franchise has sold more than 500 million copies, helping make its owner, Microsoft’s Activision, one of the most profitable companies in the gaming industry. The series has also spawned an upcoming live-action film.
Call of Duty was not his only major success. Zampella was also behind other popular titles, including Medal of Honor, Titanfall and Apex Legends.
Journalist and The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley, who wrote a book about the making of Titanfall, described Zampella as a “dear friend” in a post on X and a “visionary executive” who “never wavered in his commitment to honesty and transparency”.
“While he created some of the most influential games of our time, I always felt he still had his greatest one ahead of him,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking that we’ll never get to play it.”
“He really cared about the player experience,” said Keza MacDonald, The Guardian’s video games editor.
“He cared about making games, he cared about how people felt when they played and that really came across whenever you spoke to him.”
YouTuber MrRoflWaffles, whose Call of Duty videos have earned him more than 2.4 million subscribers, said the developer inspired “a whole generation,” including his own work.
“You talk about the Mount Rushmore of gaming – he’s absolutely staple on that list of people,” he said.
In 2010, Zampella and West were fired from Activision, the publisher of Call of Duty, and later became embroiled in a lengthy legal dispute with the company, which was settled out of court in 2012.
At Electronic Arts, Zampella went on to work on Battlefield 6, widely seen as a direct competitor to Call of Duty.
Infinity Ward, the US studio that developed Call of Duty, said Zampella “will always have a special place in our history”.
“Your legacy of creating iconic, lasting entertainment is immeasurable,” the company said in a statement on X.
