Modern Warfare 4 honours Call of Duty co-creator Vince Zampella
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 ends with a name from its beginning.
The game includes a separate credits screen that reads "In memoriam – Vince Zampella", according to Video Games Chronicle. The screen is simple. It appears apart from the main credit roll.
Zampella was co-creator of Call of Duty and co-founder of Infinity Ward, the studio behind the Modern Warfare series. He died in a car crash in December 2025.
His path into Call of Duty began with Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, where he served as lead designer. He then co-founded Infinity Ward with Grant Collier and Jason West. He led the studio through the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009.
That release was followed by a public split. Zampella and West were fired by Activision after a dispute, and denied bonuses for Modern Warfare 2. In 2010, they formed a new studio, Respawn Entertainment.
Respawn went on to release Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Electronic Arts acquired the studio in 2017. Zampella stayed on inside EA and was later put in charge of the Battlefield series, where he led its comeback with Battlefield 6.
Away from those franchises, Hideo Kojima has said the two developers once discussed working together. In February 2026, Kojima claimed he and Zampella talked about making a Metal Gear shooter at Respawn, according to Video Games Chronicle. The project never happened.
The tribute arrives as players begin the new game. Campaign Early Access for Modern Warfare 4 is now live, according to the Call of Duty Blog. The campaign contains 16 missions set across the Korean Peninsula, Paris, New York and Mumbai. Its story follows a new invasion that threatens to destabilise the world, while Captain Price hunts for the person behind it.
For longtime players, the credit lands with extra weight. Zampella helped build the series that Modern Warfare 4 continues, then spent his later years leading its closest rival.
