A few of the best-known names in sport improvement are in Las Vegas this week for the annual DICE Summit and one of many first orders of enterprise is paying tribute to the late Vince Zampella. “His legacy isn’t just in the franchises or awards,” EA Leisure president Laura Miele stated, in keeping with an on-the-ground report by Game File. “It lives in every studio that chooses trust over fear, craft over shortcuts, people over ego.”
Bethesda’s Todd Howard, Steel Gear creator Hideo Kojima, and others appeared through pre-recorded video segments to share reminiscences of and tributes to the person who helped form and shepherd a number of the largest studios and franchises in gaming. “Vince was the real deal,” Howard stated. “I would always seek his advice with every game that I did, or how to maneuver on all that is going on in the industry.”
At DICE, Hideo Kojima revealed that he had many discussions with Vince Zampella about creating a primary individual Steel Gear Stable sport collectively after the discharge of Steel Gear Stable 4. pic.twitter.com/hhjbCqG7T2
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) February 11, 2026
Zampella died tragically and unexpectedly in a car crash last December that additionally claimed the lifetime of his passenger. He labored on Medal of Honor within the early 2000s earlier than cofounding Infinity Ward to guide Name of Responsibility. He later cofounded a brand new studio, Respawn Leisure, amid an acrimonious break up with Activision over studio bonuses. On the time of his demise he had turn into an government president at EA overseeing Battlefield and different franchises.
The primary-person Steel Gear Stable that wasn’t
Kojima, who had his personal messy break up with writer Konami again within the 2010s, stated Zampella took him on a tour of Respawn whereas he was within the means of getting Demise Stranding maker Kojima Productions off the bottom. “He gave me a lot of support and advice,” Kojima stated, according to Game File. “He showed me his studio, and I incorporated some of the good aspects into our own studio.”
Kojima even revealed that the 2 had at one pointed talked about presumably collaborating on a first-person Steel Gear Stable shooter someday after Steel Gear Stable 4 was launched in 2008. Howard added that he’d beforehand nominated Zampella for a lifetime achievement award, however he’d refused to just accept the glory.
