Infinity Ward has decided to pay tribute to one of the studio’s co-founders – Vince Zampella. As reported by IGN, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 features Zampella’s name in the credits’ “In Memoriam” section, where the studio has paid tribute to those who passed away during the title’s development. Others included in this list alongside Zampella are Rainer Yang, Matt Canale, and Preetam Raj Bordoloi.
The studio’s decision to pay tribute to Zampella should come as no surprise, since throughout his life, he had an immense level of impact on the gaming industry as a whole. Along with having a hand in creating the Call of Duty franchise alongside Jason West and Grant Collier, Zampella had also gone on to found Respawn Entertainment – the studio behind games like Titanfall, Apex Legends, and Star Wars: Jedi.
Zampella passed away in December 2025. Reports noted that he was the victim of a tragic accident on the Angeles Crest Highway, veering off the road and crashing into a barrier. The driver of the 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS died in the fire that resulted from the crash, and while the passenger was able to get out of the car, they passed away in the hospital shortly afterwards. Zampella was 55 years old at the time.
A few years after founding Respawn Entertainment and working on a number of projects, Zampella would eventually take over the leadership for Ripple Effect – the studio formerly known as DICE LA – and worked alongside Motive Studios, Criterion, and DICE on Battlefield 6. He was also tasked with overseeing the multiplayer shooter franchise as a whole.
Interestingly, Hideo Kojima revealed earlier this year that he had at one point approached Zampella to get advice when he was founding Kojima Productions. Zampella had plenty of experience in founding independent studios, and Kojima noted that “Without [Zampella], the gaming industry wouldn’t be what it is today.”
Others from across the gaming industry have also spoken about Zampella’s impact on the industry. Gaming media member Geoff Keighley spoke about how he was often restless. “Nothing was ever quite good enough. That relentless hunger for excellence drove him to believe he could always make a better game, a better company, be a better leader.”
“He was direct, impatient with nonsense, and fiercely loyal to the people doing the work. As he liked to say, he was always a few days away from quitting every job he ever had. And somehow that’s what made him invaluable. He could be inside the system without becoming it. That independence led him to always put the player first, to push even the biggest organizations to take risks.’”
One of the most recent releases that was helped by Zampella in some form was Star Wars Zero Company. Bit Reactor founder Gregory Foertsch revealed earlier this year that the game only became a possibility thanks to a phone call from Zampella, who encouraged Foertsch to pursue his dream of working on a brand-new strategy game. Interestingly, Zampella would be the one to ask Foertsch whether his concept for a strategy game would work in the Star Wars universe. “And I said, ‘Sure, different game, but yeah, absolutely.’”
