'Call of Duty' creator Vince Zampella dies

Vince Zampella, a key figure in the creation of Call of Duty, the bestselling video game franchise that has reproduced World War II battles, riffed on modern global conflicts and imagined the technology future soldiers will wield, has died.

- EMMANUEL MORGAN

He was 55.His death was confirmed by Electronic Arts, which owns Respawn Entertainment, the studio Zampella co-founded in 2010. It did not provide a cause.

“Vince's influence on the video game industry was profound and far-reaching,” Electronic Arts said in a statement on Monday. “A friend, colleague, leader and visionary creator, his work helped shape modern interactive entertainment and inspired millions of players and developers around the world.”

Zampella was instrumental in the development of the most popular first-person military shooter games, including this year’s Battlefield 6, a Call of Duty competitor. He was the general manager of Respawn, which has produced the shooters Titanfall, in which players control giant robots, and Apex Legends, a sci-fi battle royale.

Among Zampella’s earliest video game credits was Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2002), which included missions to sabotage a German U-boat and storm Omaha Beach on D-Day.

The game was made by 2015 Inc, where Zampella worked as a lead developer. Its success led Electronic Arts, which had contracted the studio, to desire similar titles created under its own umbrella. That left many developers on the outside looking in.

So in May 2002, Zampella, Jason West and Grant Collier founded Infinity Ward, hiring nearly two dozen people who had worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.