Vince Zampella, the longtime game developer best known for co-creating Call of Duty, died as a result of a car crash in 2025. His legacy in the industry is long, and his influence includes the upcoming Star Wars Zero Company. As it turns out, the project got underway when Zampella cold-called a veteran XCOM dev to find out about his dream game.
"I'd left Firaxis after about 22 years of working there and making strategy games my whole career," as Gregory Foertsch, who served as art director on the modern XCOM games, tells PC Gamer. "I knew I wanted to stay in the strategy, the tactics space," but it seems he hadn't figured out the particulars of his next move – until a late night in his home office.
