Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 remembers Vince Zampella, the Infinity Ward co-founder who helped create Call of Duty. Players who finish the campaign see an In Memoriam screen in the end credits that carries his name, Video Games Chronicle and MP1st reported. Zampella died in a car crash in December 2025.

What the tribute shows

According to VGC, the credits include a separate screen dedicated to Zampella, with the words In Memoriam above his name and nothing else. The Game Awards producer Geoff Keighley shared the screen on October 17, 2026, noting that the game is dedicated to his memory.

Zampella is not the only person honored. MP1st reports that the In Memoriam section also names three other developers who have died: Reiner Yang, Matt Canale and Preetam Raj Bordoloi. According to MP1st, Bordoloi worked on at least 10 Call of Duty games, the most recent being Black Ops 7. Canale joined Infinity Ward in 2013 for Call of Duty: Ghosts and last worked on Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile.

Zampella’s place in Call of Duty history

Before Call of Duty, Zampella was lead designer on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. He then co-founded Infinity Ward with Grant Collier and Jason West and signed a publishing deal with Activision. The studio released the first Call of Duty in 2003, and Zampella led Infinity Ward through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009.

After a widely reported dispute with Activision, Zampella and West founded Respawn Entertainment in 2010. Respawn went on to make Titanfall, Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and EA acquired the studio in 2017. Zampella later took charge of DICE’s Los Angeles studio in 2020 and of the Battlefield series in 2021, a period that led to Battlefield 6, according to VGC.

That history is why the tribute carries weight. Infinity Ward, the studio Zampella helped start, is the team behind Modern Warfare 4, and MP1st notes that this game brings the current Modern Warfare storyline to a close.

What it means for players

The dedication sits at the very end of the campaign, so you will only see it after finishing the story. The campaign follows a young South Korean soldier, Private Park, during a North Korean invasion, alongside the return of Captain Price, according to Activision on the PlayStation Blog.

Modern Warfare 4 launches October 23 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and campaign early access is already live. The game also brings Multiplayer with 12 core 6v6 maps at launch and the return of the DMZ extraction mode.