Posted on 12/23/2025 9:34:21 AM PST by Red Badger
Video game developer and ‘Call of Duty’ creator Vince Zampella, 55, was killed in a horrific car crash in Southern California on Sunday.
Video posted to social media shows Zampella speeding out of a tunnel in his Ferrari in the San Gabriel Mountains before crashing into a concrete barrier.
The Ferrari burst into flames as onlookers screamed in horror.
Several witnesses ran across the windy mountain road and dragged the ejected passenger away from the fiery wreckage.
Zampella died at the crash site. The unidentified passenger died later at the hospital.
NBC Los Angeles reported:
Video game developer Vince Zampella, whose studios have created several of the world’s best-selling games, was killed Sunday afternoon in a Ferrari crash on Southern California’s Angeles Crest Highway, NBC4 Investigates has learned.
Zampella, an acclaimed figure in the video game industry, is the head of Respawn Entertainment. The prolific designer is the former CEO of video game developers Infinity Ward, the studio behind the successful “Call of Duty” franchise.
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 Ferrari veered off the road just after exiting a tunnel, hit a concrete barrier and a passenger was ejected, the California Highway Patrol said.
The driver, Zampella, was trapped in the ensuing car fire, the CHP said. He died at the scene and the passenger died at a hospital, authorities told NBC4 Investigates. Details about the passenger’s identity were not immediately available.
Details about what led to the crash off the winding forest road overlooking Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley also were not immediately available. A witness provided video of the crash involving a 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS to authorities that shows the red car slamming into the barrier just after exiting the tunnel.
Respawn released a statement on Vince Zampella’s untimely death:
We’re heartbroken by the passing of our founder and dear friend Vince Zampella.
Vince was a titan and legend of this industry, a visionary leader and a force who shaped teams and games like Call of Duty, Titanfall, Apex Legends, the Star Wars Jedi series and Battlefield for our community in ways that will be felt for generations.
His impact reached far beyond any one game or studio. We will remember Vince for how he showed up every day, trusting his teams, encouraging bold ideas, and believing in Respawn & Battlefield. Most importantly, he championed what he believed was right for the people behind those studios and our players because it mattered.
We will miss him greatly.
Our hearts are with his family, friends, and all who love him.
They think they are professional race car drivers because they can afford a race car.
This is a tragedy but there have been other incidents of movies stars, tech executives and other rich people in California (and other places) dying like this. Paul Walker comes to mind. They get a high powered car and drive it like a race car driver on the public streets and then things like this happen.
thats more of a GTA way to go than COD
No respawn for that guy.
Paul wasn’t driving the car that crashed. James Dean also comes to mind, but he wasn’t at fault in the accident.
...............
Professional race car drivers are a rare breed.
Not many people can do what they do.
I drive several very fast cars a lot, but I am not near as talented as the cars.
It is so easy to make the slightest mistake that can ruin your day.
It is exhilarating but scary at the same time.
At 64, I’m way past my prime.
The old Clint Eastwood line comes to mind:
“A man has got to know his limitations.”
I am about the same age as this guy and playing with my grandkids is dangerous enough for me.
In aviation, as the saying goes, “There are bold pilots and there are old pilots. But there are no old, bold pilots.”
Same can be said for race car drivers...........
I wondered if this might have been a suicide.............
As usual, people not bothering to actually read the story or go to the link apparently before coming to a conclusion.
There is a link in the original story (I cannot watch because I dont X).
According to “Fraudproof Elections”:
“California Department of Transportation kills two more.
By leaving the hole in concrete wall with the car-splitting barrier end exposed, like a dull knife through a ripe tomato, CDOT is guilty of 2nd degree manslaughter.
THE FIRST THING ANYONE INSTALLING BARRIERS IS TAUGHT: DON’T LEAVE THE CONCRETE END OF A BARRIER WALL EXPOSED.
If the hole in the wall wasn’t there at the exact apex of the curve, to slice through any vehicle going half that speed, both people would be home from the hospital sipping coffee today, sans Ferrari, not 40 degrees in an LA morgue.”
Ive had road crews do some pretty ignorant and dangerous things to me and I would imagine that if some of the sanctimonious types were honest they could tell stories about dangerous road situations into which they were forced.
Walker was a passenger. The driver was a professional racer.
Yup. Divorce pending.
Modern “Christine”?
It’s either a fatal miscalculation on his part or it was a suicide...........
Life is not a game.
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