Battlefield Boss Reveals How EA’s Mistake Gave Birth to Call of Duty

Vince Zampella, the head of the Battlefield franchise and a veteran of military shooters, recently told GQ that the legendary Call of Duty series only exists "because EA were di***ks.”

Zampella’s comments come in the wake of Battlefield 6 triumphant launch, which became EA’s most successful release on Steam—peaking at over 747,000 concurrent players and even surpassing Apex Legends.

Vince Zampella began his career at EA, working on the Medal of Honor series from 1999 to 2002 and serving as lead designer on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. The team drew inspiration from Saving Private Ryan, and the project even received the blessing of Steven Spielberg himself, who was deeply interested in games at the time and had founded DreamWorks Interactive to create Medal of Honor.

After Allied Assault’s release, EA decided to take full control of the Medal of Honor series, leaving Zampella’s team without funding.

The developers then turned to Activision, which saw their potential and offered them the chance to create a Medal of Honor competitor. That’s how Call of Duty was born—eventually becoming one of the most successful shooter franchises in history.

After the launch of Modern Warfare 2 in 2009, Zampella parted ways with Activision in a high-profile legal dispute over unpaid bonuses. He later founded Respawn Entertainment, which released Titanfall and Apex Legends. The studio was eventually acquired by EA, and Zampella became the head of the Battlefield franchise.

With the release of Battlefield 6, Zampella has come full circle—from Medal of Honor to Battlefield, having worked on nearly every major shooter of the last few decades. The new entry is a bold return to the 2000s spirit, when Call of Duty and Battlefield defined the genre. The game features a full campaign, eight modes, classic large-scale battles with up to 64 players, military vehicles, and destructible maps.

Battlefield 6 was developed by four studios worldwide, including the UK’s Criterion Games (of Need for Speed Unbound fame), and was unveiled with a massive event in Los Angeles. The atmosphere around the project reminded fans of the glory days of E3 and the era of big game reveals.

The marketing campaign leans heavily into 2000s nostalgia: the trailer is set to Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff,” and ads feature Zac Efron and Paddy Pimblett—throwbacks to the days when Call of Duty launches were true cultural moments.

He also recalled that director Ridley Scott was once considered to helm a Call of Duty movie, but the project never materialized.

According to Puck, the film rights to Call of Duty now belong to Paramount. GQ notes that Battlefield 6 has the potential to save the military shooter genre and prove that classic cinematic FPS games still have a future—even in the age of Fortnite and Roblox. If Steven Spielberg helped lay the foundation for the modern military shooter, Vince Zampella has shown the genre is still alive—and can be an event once again.

Battlefield 6 launched on October 10 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. There are already graphics comparisons between platforms online, and the game has been tested on mainstream GPUs, including the GTX 1650, RTX 3050, and RTX 4060. The project has earned high marks from critics and mostly positive reviews from gamers.