The games industry pays tribute to the late Vince Zampella: 'Thank you, Vince-You were one of the good ones'

Yesterday brought the tragic news that Vince Zampella, co-founder of Call of Duty studio Infinity Ward and head of Respawn and Ripple Effect at Electronic Arts, died in a car crash in north Los Angeles. A passenger in the car was also killed in the crash. (Image credit: Electronic Arts (YouTube)) Vince Zampella and Jason West in 2010, just after founding Respawn.(Image credit: Ann Johansson/Corbis via Getty Images) Zampella was a colossal figure in videogames, with his first major credit being lead designer on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. He'd go on to co-found Infinity Ward with Grant Collier and Jason West in 2002, which not only created Call of Duty but reinvented it (and mainstream shooters more widely) with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. After a split with Activision Zampella and West co-founded Respawn, which has released the beloved Titanfall games, Apex Legends, and two Star Wars Jedi games. In the 24 hours since the news broke, industry figures have been sharing their shock at Zampella's death, and memories of their time working with him. One word of warning: while preparing this article I did the usual Google / social media searches for Zampella's name. If you do that on sites such as X you risk coming across some widely distributed footage of a crash: you don't want to see it, and it's also unclear whether the clips are legitimate. Legendary FPS designer John Romero: "RIP Vince Zampella. Your mark on the FPS genre is monumental, and I am shocked and sorry to see you gone so soon." Epic developer Donald Mustard: "Absolutely heartbroken. Vince Zampella created and led so much incredible entertainment and innovation in games over his legendary life. "My tears and condolences to his dear family, his friends, and his colleagues. So grateful I got to see him last week. So grateful for the hugs and stories we shared." A repeated theme from former colleagues is how well Zampella treated others and, when necessary, how fiercely he'd fight for them. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Former Infinity Ward developer Jon Porter: "Vince Zampella... what can I say. He was an amazing person who always treated people with respect. He may have been the owner, but he never carried himself that way. He treated everyone as equals, always took the time to listen, and was never too busy to talk. "More than that, he protected his people and helped create a studio culture that set the standard for so many of us. Thank you, Vince. You were one of the good ones." Respawn's Jen Salvesen: "It goes without saying but the loss of Vince Zampella is massive. He was everything you'd want in a leader, and he made games that changed the landscape of gaming forever for the better. I'm grateful for the studio he built for all of us, the love of...

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