‘Call Of Duty’ Creator Vince Zampella Dies At 55 In Los Angeles-Area Car Crash
Video game creator Vince Zampella, whose credits include the immensely popular Call of Duty franchise, reportedly died Sunday in a single-car crash on a highway near Los Angeles.
Zampella was 55.
The fatality was reported by NBC Los Angeles today. The accident occurred around 12:45 p.m. on Southern California’s Angeles Crest Highway, a scenic road north of L.A. in the San Gabriel Mountains. Deadline has reached out to California Highway Patrol for additional details.
Zampella was a co-founder, with Jason West, of studios Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment. He helped create the Call of Duty franchise while at Infinity Ward. After a contentious parting with the company in 2010 after it was purchased by Activision, Zampella and West went on to launch Respawn. Zampella left that company in 2013, before it developed such games as Titanfall and the Star Wars Jedi series, among others.
According to NBC Los Angeles, Zampella was driving a Ferrari south along the Crest Highway when his car veered off the road and struck a concrete barrier, igniting a fire. A passenger was ejected from the car and subsequently was pronounced dead at a hospital; Zampella died at the scene in the fire.
Zampella also led the studio team behind the Battlefield video game franchise.
