Having ping-ponged between Activision and Electronic Arts, Battlefield boss Vince Zampella has said Call of Duty only exists “because EA were d****”.
Battlefield boss Vince Zampella has said Call of Duty only exists “because Electronic Arts were d****”.
The developer had worked on EA’s Medal of Honor series before he left in 2002, leading Zampella to form Infinity Ward and helm the rival shooter Call of Duty for Activision Blizzard.
Speaking with GQ, Zampella said: “The only reason that Call of Duty exists is because EA were d****.”
Zampella then founded Respawn Entertainment, where he helmed Titanfall and Apex Legends.
In 2017, Zampella returned to EA when the publisher acquired Respawn, and the developer is now fronting Call of Duty’s rival, Battlefield 6.
Battlefield 6 released on October 10, 2025, and has already been hugely successful.
The shooter has become the series’ biggest launch ever, with nearly 750,000 concurrent players on Steam in a single day.
Elsewhere in the interview, Zampella recalled plans for Sir Ridley Scott to direct a Call of Duty movie.
He recounted: “Ridley Scott came in one time – who’s a hero of mine – but he’s not connected to games, so he’d ask these questions like, ‘How do you script what happens?’
“There was a bit of a talk around him doing a Call of Duty film, but we never really took it seriously. Video game movies at that point were never really that good.”
Call of Duty exists ‘because EA were d****’, Battlefield boss Vince Zampella says
