Vince Zampella and an unidentified passenger were both killed in a tragic single-car accident on a scenic road north of Los Angeles. According to the California Highway Patrol, the two were in a 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS for an afternoon cruise when the vehicle was seen exiting a tunnel, veering off the road, and then hitting a concrete barrier, whereby the passenger was ejected and the vehicle caught fire. Zampella died at the scene, while the passenger later passed on at the hospital. NBC Channel 4 Los Angeles reports that a witness provided video of the car hitting the barrier shortly after leaving the tunnel. Vince Zampella was 55 at the time of his death.
To say that Zampella was a veteran of the gaming industry would be grossly understating what he achieved. While his career in the gaming industry could be said to have begun in the 1970’s, shortly after graduating college, it would really take off in the 1990’s after working on various Medal of Honor titles. He and Jason West would go on to create Infinity Ward and the Call of Duty franchise. Both would move to EA following a legal battle with Activision involving claims of unpaid royalties, and along with many of their team from Infinity Ward, would form Respawn Entertainment. As IGN reports, the video game hits came one after another thereafter with Titanfall 1-2, Apex Legends, and the Star Wars Jedi games, along with ongoing releases to the Call of Duty franchise, and then being put in charge of the Battlefield franchise following the launch of Battlefield 2042. EA issued the following statement regarding the tragic events of yesterday’s accident.
“This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince’s family, his loved ones, and all those touched by his work. Vince’s influence on the video game industry was profound and far-reaching. A friend, colleague, leader and visionary creator, his work helped shape modern interactive entertainment and inspired millions of players and developers around the world. His legacy will continue to shape how games are made and how players connect for generations to come.”
-EA
Our sincerest condolences to his family, as his loss will be felt by many and his contributions will be recognized by generations to come. Infinity Ward also issued a statement regarding his passing.
Rest in peace Vince.
— Infinity Ward (@InfinityWard) December 22, 2025
As one of the founders of Infinity Ward and Call of Duty, you will always have a special place in our history.
Your legacy of creating iconic, lasting entertainment is immeasurable.
Our deepest condolences to Vince’s family and loved ones upon this…
Discussion (19 replies)
Join Discussion →Thanks to @DrezKill for the tip on this yesterday.
Sucks that he died in the crappiest Ferrari that has ever existed.
Vince did like his supercars. I know he had a Pagani Huayra. Probably had a bunch of other supercars as well.
Insane video of the crash here: https://www.ndtv.com/auto/vince-zampellas-fatal-ferrari-296-gts-crash-what-makes-this-supercar-so-extreme-9902349
Possibly brake failure or electronics failure?
Haven't watched the vid but I heard about it getting posted online and someone also mentioned that it looked like he ran over a rock right before losing control.
I watched it again. He exited from the tunnel too fast and he was pretty close to the edge of the road. Maybe got blinded due to his eyes unable to adjust properly from sudden light exposure after exiting from the dark tunnel?
Judging by the video he just misjudged the speed, went into the corner too fast slid off. He might have hit a rock, but if he did that already happened off the road. What he clearly hit however is the end of the concrete barrier which torn the car in two.
That's the problem with these cars. They are too light and at high speed, they just get torn apart like a toy car.
I kind of grew up in a muscle car family, along with dad's sleeper wagons and never really understood how small, or low to the ground certain sports cars were, including post 80's vettes, until later on in life.
I never forget how shocked I was when I mentor of mine, in the 90s, who worked in some prestigious local European shops started showing me things and I chuckled that they were cheating because the cars were not much taller off the ground than a skateboard and had little to them beyond the chasis/power train/suspension. He taught me a lot about the many refinements needed to dial these things in to get them to do what they do.
Take it further to something like this and the body isn't much more than paper when going top speed. Very well aware of how the super cars of today are not that far removed the real racing counterparts and all the dangers therein. Still sad though.
Well clearly it was something expected for him to come flying out of that tunnel. Perhaps a sanctioned street race in the mountains? I'm not sure. Either way... sad that he died. I hope his moments doing that were well worth the experience to him. Some people say they don't want to die peacefully but sliding in sideways while screaming woohoo... so perhaps that was him?
It still really throws me off that in my 4th-gen Mustang I can see right over the tops of 4th-gen-and-after Corvettes!
TBF when hitting concrete with this kind of speed doesn't matter what type of car it is. The difference is that it takes a mile for a regular car to reach 100mph while it takes 4 seconds in these.
It's better to die when you have nothing going on than when you're enjoying life. It's like waking up from a dream: it always happens at the best part, how annoying is that?
Not sure why the passenger hasn't been identified yet.
There was a passenger?
edit: so there was . . .
You hit the end of a barrier like that in dang near any car and you're pretty much toast. That's a lot of concentrated force.
Except a normal car wouldn't have accelerated that fast, giving the driver at least some time to veer away or hit the brakes.