Some names shape genres. Vince Zampella shaped eras. The game industry is mourning the loss of Vince Zampella, a defining creative force behind Call of Duty, Titanfall, and Respawn Entertainment’s modern Star Wars games. His death marks the end of a career that quietly, decisively changed how action games are made—and how millions of players experience them. Why this matters now Zampella’s influence stretches across two decades of gaming history. From competitive shooters to cinematic single-player adventures, his fingerprints are everywhere—including Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor, which redefined what a modern Star Wars game could be. His passing isn’t just the loss of a studio head. It’s the loss of a design philosophy built on feel, precision, and respect for players. What happened According to confirmed reporting, Zampella died following a single-vehicle car crash in Southern California. Emergency services responded to the incident after an automated alert,…
video game industry
What Lucasfilm’s Rogue One Ruling Means for the Future of Games and Digital Characters
The UK court’s recent decision to dismiss the lawsuit over Peter Cushing’s digital likeness in Rogue One isn’t just a footnote in Star Wars legal lore. It’s a marker on a crossroads where storytelling, technology, and entertainment law intersect — and one that could ripple into how video games are made for years to come. Let’s unpack what this could mean for the future of gaming, virtual reality, AI-driven narratives, and the haunting possibility of seeing deceased performers “come to life” in interactive experiences. Cinema and Games Are Crossing Paths More Than Ever Video games have long borrowed from film — storytelling techniques, motion capture, even face scans of actors. But we’re now entering a phase where the boundaries are blurring in the opposite direction. Studios are crafting immersive experiences that feel cinematic. Meanwhile, games are increasingly treating characters as performances, not just polygons. With Star Wars pioneering a legal…