Vince Zampella, boss Battlefield franchise and co-founder of Respawn Entertainment, died in a car accident at the age of 55. The head of the studio behind one of the most successful FPS series of all time, Zampella leaves behind three children along with a legacy that includes Battlefield series and many other games.
Zampella began his career in the 1990s testing unreleased games and making calls for a small indie development studio. He later went on to work in graphic design at Florida studio GameTek, and his career led him to roles at a variety of prominent companies, including classic developers such as Atari, Panasonic and SegaSoft.
Respawn's Vince Zampella will lead DICE LA and create the original game
Electronic Arts is letting Respawn CEO Vince Zampella take over at DICE LA to help the studio create its first original game.
Respawn Entertainment co-founder Vince Zampella has died at the age of 55
According to a report by NBC Los Angeles, Zampella was identified as the driver in a one-vehicle crash on December 21, 2025 at approximately 12:45 a.m. on a freeway that crosses the San Gabriel Mountains. A report from the California Highway Patrol indicates the vehicle left the road and struck a concrete barrier, ejecting the sole occupant while Zampella was trapped inside the vehicle, which caught fire. No information has been released about why the vehicle went off the road, but law enforcement reports confirm that Zampella died at the scene and the unidentified passenger was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Many colleagues in the video game industry were shocked by Zampello's death and publicly expressed their sympathies to the family, including long-time The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley.
Some of Zampello's biggest successes in the industry came during his work on games in Call of Duty franchise that was revived as a result of some of his previous work. At the turn of the century, Zampella worked for 2015 Inc Medal of Honor series. Along with Grant Collier and Jason West, he founded Infinity Ward in May 2022, and the studio was acquired by Activision not long after. next year Call of Duty was released as the first Infinity Ward game. While he was involved in the development of several projects with the franchise before his departure from Activision in early 2010, he left a special mark on the first two games in the series that bear his name as a producer.
After this departure, Zampella and West founded Respawn Entertainment. West left after just three years with the company, leaving Zampella alone at the helm. Although no games were released during this three-year period, the development studio found success with some classic hits, including the hero shooter Battle Royale. Apex Legends and robust action adventure games Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. However, Respawn's original claim to fame was Titanfall series, and even though this IP has now sat dormant for nearly a decade, rumors persist that Titanfall 3 may come in 2026.
But modern fans will most likely see the mark Zampella left on him Battlefield series. Since 2021, Zampella has been working as the head of the company Battlefield franchise. He expresses his opinion that the last edition of the game before his appointment, Battlefield 2042that strayed too far from what made the series so beloved by its fanbase, Zampella still oversaw the creation of several post-launch additions to the game. However, its greatest impact on the series would not be seen until October 2025. Battlefield 6 dominated the sales charts under Zampello, with the Steam charts reaching a record high of over 656,000 players within the month of release. It also received a total of three nominations at The Game Awards 2025, including one for Best Action Game, and managed to take home the trophy for Best Sound Design.
