He was a visionary co-founder of Respawn Entertainment and a possible force behind the development of the Call of Duty and Battlefield franchises. Vince Zampella died Sunday afternoon as a result of a one-vehicle car accident along the Angeles Crest Highway in Southern California, reported by NBC Los Angeles. Zampella had reached 55 years old. The California Highway Patrol confirmed that Zampella’s vehicle left the road and rolled down a steep embankment; and while emergency services arrived quickly, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Zampella’s career was defined by his unrelenting conviction for pushing the envelope in first-person shooter experiences. His success at 2015, Inc. with the Medal of Honor: Allied Assault stoked co-founding Infinity Ward, where he birthed the Call of Duty series. His contribution to the theory of Modern Warfare rewrote the rulebook for action multiplayer gaming, setting a foundation cinematical and mechanical range that up to this day dominate the market. Leaving Activision to form Respawn Entertainment under Electronic Arts was another seismic revolution in the industry.
In recent times, Zampella had assumed enormous responsibilities at Electronic Arts in shaping the future of the Battlefield franchise, while also overseeing several studios, including Ripple Effect and Respawn. He was a real developer’s developer who knew the technical nitty-gritty of game design and high-level business strategy. Those who had the chance to be part of his teams, whereby he always maintained highly liquid and responsive gameplay, will tell you he is one of the most respected executives the medium has ever had.
The development community is overdosed with an immediate and complete burst of grief. By late Sunday night, Electronic Arts had passed a statement saying, “Zampella is a pioneer whose effect on modern interactive entertainment cannot be overstated.” Beyond his technical milestones, Zampella will be remembered for his mentorship and knack for identifying talent. The industry has lost yet another of its few true titans; now a void in some of the biggest gaming properties in the world would be really difficult to fill.
