Vince Zampella

Vincent Walter Zampella II was born on October 1, 1969. As a child, he developed an early interest in video games, having Donkey Kong as his childhood favorite. After dropping out of Broward College (then Broward Community College) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Zampella worked as a handyman. A friend helped him get a job at game company GameTek, where he performed various roles such as customer service and game testing. In an interview with Gamezilla, Zampella said he "started out in graphic design and digital video at GameTek, then went to Atari to help launch its PC division" sometime before 1997. He also worked at Panasonic Interactive Media/Ripcord Games and SegaSoft, where he met Jason West, with whom he later founded Infinity Ward along with Grant Collier.

In September 1999, Zampella moved from Silicon Valley to work for 2015 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. By 2001, he was director of development of 2015. He worked there through 2002; during that time he was credited as the lead designer for the critically acclaimed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.

In a 2001 interview, Zampella said that he had "always been an avid computer user and gamer". At the time he was a casual Counter-Strike player. According to TMZ, Zampella's wife Brigitte filed for divorce in 2015, and they had three children. In late 2025 Zampella was in the early stages of creating an exotic car dealership, production company and studio space in partnership with Emelia Hartford.