Call of Duty Co-Creator, Respawn Co-Founder, and EA Exec Vince Zampella Killed In Car Accident (ign.com) 24
Vince Zampella, the co-creator of Call of Duty and co-founder of Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment, died at 55 in a single-car accident in Los Angeles. According to NBC Los Angeles, "The single-car crash was reported at about 12:45 p.m. on the scenic road north of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains. The southbound car veered off the road, hit a concrete barrier and a passenger was ejected, the California Highway Patrol said. The driver was trapped in the ensuing car fire, the CHP said. The driver died at the scene and the passenger died at a hospital, authorities told NBC4 Investigates." IGN reports: Zampella was an incredibly talented game developer who changed the industry with Call of Duty, a franchise he co-created with Jason West in 2003 at Infinity Ward, the studio he co-founded with West, after previously serving as the lead designer for EA's Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Zampella was at the center of a high-profile lawsuit against Activision that alleged that the publisher owed Zampella and the Infinity Ward team millions of dollars in unpaid Call of Duty royalties. The bitter professional divorce led to Zampella and West taking a substantial number of the Infinity Ward team with them to EA, where they co-founded Respawn Entertainment, a studio that has produced nothing but critically acclaimed hits: Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Respawn's success under Zampella led to him getting promoted twice, eventually overseeing the Battlefield franchise within his role as Group General Manager at EA.
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You get what you deserve for not installing an adblocker.
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Concrete barriers in LA- (Score:3)
Sad (Score:2)
Very sad for his family.
It's also amazing to hear his age. It does terrible things to my head to realize that he released CoD at 33 years old.
I hope that it was a good ride for him.
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Yes its a sad time, when someone with talent dies like that. But on the other hand, He was driving a 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS on those winding mountain roads, I have driven then and it's fun to drive on those curves. But my guess is its a new car for him, going fast and being stupid. Sorry to see this happen.
Angeles Crest Highway (Score:2)
As I suspected, this crash happened on the Angeles Crest Highway.
https://ktla.com/news/local-ne... [ktla.com]
"Multiple media outlets reported that Vince Zampella was in a Ferrari that hit a concrete barrier while driving on Angeles Crest Highway and subsequently caught fire. The California Highway Patrol, in a statement to KTLA, was only able to confirm the incident took place on Sunday at 12:43 p.m. at mile marker 62 on Angeles Crest Highway. "
Angeles Crest is a windy mountain road (one lane in each direction) popula
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Video of him wrecking in a Ferrari (Score:4, Informative)
Just watched video footage of him wrecking in a 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS, coming out of a tunnel at a high rate of speed while several people were watching and videoing. Lots of rubber on the road from people doing donuts and the like. It was a gradual curve but they lost control and slid into a stone and concrete barrier. I'll tell you one thing - that Ferrari pretty much disintegrated. Looks like the passenger was still strapped into their seat which came out in one piece, and the bystanders quickly pulled them away from the car, which caught on fire immediately.
I imagine most other vehicles wouldn't be traveling that fast, but I also bet they wouldn't have broken into pieces that easily.
https://www.instagram.com/reel... [instagram.com]
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Was thinking the same thing.
Whenever I visit California from Aus, I think I've entered a 2nd world country with the state of public infrastructure.
Re:Video of him wrecking in a Ferrari (Score:4, Interesting)
A foolish way to die, but that exposed end of the concrete barrier is unforgivable.
Why? This wasn't a racetrack. There's no reason for someone to lose control at such a gentle corner. If anything we should have more of these exposed concrete barriers. The world would be better off thinning the morons who use roads like racetracks out of the gene pool.
Re:Video of him wrecking in a Ferrari (Score:5, Informative)
Geeks and supercars don't mix (Score:2)
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But not every "geek" is an irresponsible driver. I for one really enjoyed Carmageddon or GTA, but am not tempted at all to speed in real life driving.
Whomp whomp (Score:2)
Feel bad for his family because he died being stupid. Other than that, nothing of value was lost.
ActivisonBliz openly won't hire Chistians and Jews (Score:1)
Re: ActivisonBliz openly won't hire Chistians and (Score:2)
if it keeps out people like you, I'm all for it.
Once again a moron kills an innocent (Score:3)
I don't shed a tear for idiots who die using roads as racetracks, it's just a shame there was someone else in the car.