Head Of The Battlefield Series And Respawn Co-Founder Vince Zampella Has Passed Away Following A Tragic Car Crash

Industry veteran Vince Zampella, co-founder of Respawn Entertainment and head of the Battlefield franchise, has passed away at the age of 55 following a car crash in Los Angeles yesterday.

As reported by NBC Los Angeles, the single-car crash occurred on Southern California’s Angeles Crest Highway, killing both the driver and a single passenger. Specific details surrounding the incident are few, though it’s known that the driver was pronounced dead at the scene, while the passenger passed away in the hospital. According to the report, the 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS was travelling along the highway before veering off the road and colliding with a concrete barrier.

Zampella leaves behind a storied legacy within the video game industry. His career spans back to the late 90s, having worked at Atari and GameTek before founding Infinity Ward alongside Grant Collier and Jason West. After working on the Medal of Honor series, the team jumped ship to Activision, becoming one of the core studios to work on the mammoth Call of Duty franchise, developing such landmark entries as Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

In 2010, Zampella co-founded Respawn Entertainment with Jason West, a studio that would go on to find success with Titanfall, Apex Legends, and the Star Wars Jedi series. In 2021, Vince was appointed to be the Head of the Battlefield series by EA, in an effort to course correct the franchise following the rocky launch of Battlefield 2042. Under Zampella’s leadership, Battlefield Studios released Battlefield 6 in October of this year to critical and commercial acclaim.

While attending the Battlefield 6 multiplayer reveal event in Los Angeles earlier this year, I got to listen to Zampella speak about the game and the vision he and the team had for it. Through his presence on stage and his interactions with the press and creators during the event, it was clear to see that he was passionate about both ht Battlefield series and the games industry as a whole.

The WellPlayed team would like to extend our condolences to Zampella’s friends, family, and colleagues.