Vince Zampella, head of Respawn Entertainment, dies in car accident

Tragedy has suddenly struck in the video game world. Vince Zampella, head of Respawn Entertainment, has died following a car accident in Los Angeles. Zampella was 55 years old. He is known today as the CEO and one of the co-founders of Titanfall and Apex Legends studio Respawn Entertainment, but he will also be remembered by many as one of the driving forces at Infinity Ward and one of the faces behind the Call of Duty boom that has defined a generation.

The news came from NBC Los Angeles, which reported that the crash occurred on Sunday at roughly 12:45 p.m. PT. According to the California Highway Patrol, Zampella hit a concrete barrier on Pacific Coast Highway. He was trapped in the ensuing car fire and died from his injuries.

Zampella was one of the driving forces behind the modern military shooter FPS, going back to his time with Infinity Ward. Zampella first worked on the Medal of Honor series with Electronic Arts. Shortly after, alongside Jason Ward, Zampella co-founded Infinity Ward and was hired by Activision to help create a Medal of Honor competitor. That competitor would ultimately become Call of Duty, a series that would continue to set sales records for Activision for over a decade. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 helped define the military first-person shooter, taking the genre into the modern day after spending years in the World War II setting.

While Zampella would find success with Activision and Infinity Ward, their relationship would ultimately sour. Activision accused Zampella and West of a contract breach, leading to their dismissal from Infinity Ward and years of litigation. Zampella would quickly land on his feet with Electronic Arts, helping found Respawn Entertainment and overseeing the Titanfall series, Apex Legends, the Star Wars Jedi games, and many others. He was most recently tapped by EA to lend his expertise to the Battlefield series, helping lead to this year’s acclaimed Battlefield 6.

Zampella’s passing is a tragedy for the gaming world. Shacknews sends condolences to his family and his friends in the industry.

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can’t enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?