Former CEO of Infinity War and one of the lead developers of Call of Duty, Vince Zampella, was killed in a devastating car crash.
According to NBC Los Angeles, the crash was reported at about 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, Dec 21st, 2025. The California Highway Patrol reported that the southbound car veered off the scenic road north of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains. After hitting a concrete barrier, a passenger was ejected, and the driver died in the ensuing fire—the passenger died shortly after in the hospital.
A witness provided video of the crash involving a 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS to authorities. However, no details were made available about what led to the crash or who was driving. As of publication, neither Zampella’s family nor Respawn Entertainment had commented on the incident.
Zampella was a prolific figure in the video game industry. He was best known as the co-founder of Infinity Ward, which was established as an independent studio in 2002. He served as lead designer on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. After Infinity Ward was acquired by Activision, the studio signed a deal to develop what would become Call of Duty.
Under Zampella’s and fellow Infinity Ward employee Jason West’s leadership, the studio released Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. However, Activision fired Zampella and West, and denied the $36 million in bonuses and royalties. During a wrongful termination suit with Activision, the two went on to form Respawn Entertainment, and Activision eventually settled with them and other Infinity Ward employees for “tens of millions of dollars.”
Under Zampella’s leadership, Respawn launched Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. In January 2020, EA announced Zampella would lead the Los Angeles branch of DICE. In 2021, EA put Zampella in charge of the Battlefield franchise following the challenging launch of Battlefield 2042.
In a 2001 interview, Zampella described himself as “an avid computer user and gamer,” as well as a casual Counter-Strike player. He is survived by his wife and three children.
