Video game creator Vince Zampella, whose credits include the immensely popular Call of Duty franchise, reportedly died Sunday in a single-car crash on a highway near Los Angeles.
Zampella was 55.
The identity fatality was reported by NBC Los Angeles today. The accident occurred around 12:45 p.m. on Southern California’s Angeles Crest Highway, a scenic road north of L.A. in the San Gabriel Mountains. Officers from the California Highway Patrol Altadena Area office responded to the scene.
CHP has not confirmed the identity of the driver or the passenger in the vehicle, who also died, pending notification of next of kin.
“For unknown reasons, the vehicle veered off the roadway, struck a concrete barrier, and became fully engulfed,” according to a CHP statement. “The passenger was ejected from the vehicle and the driver remained trapped. Both parties succumbed to their injuries. It is currently unknown whether alcohol and/or drugs were a factor in this crash.”
Zampella was a co-founder, with Jason West, of studios Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment. He helped create the Call of Duty franchise while at Infinity Ward. After a contentious parting with the company in 2010 after it was purchased by Activision, Zampella and West went on to launch Respawn. Zampella left that company in 2013, before it developed such games as Titanfall and the Star Wars Jedi series, among others.
Zampella also led the studio team behind the Battlefield video game franchise.
According to NBC Los Angeles, Zampella was driving a Ferrari south along the Crest Highway when the accident occurred. Zampella died at the scene in the fire while the ejected passenger was subsequently pronounced dead at a hospital.
