Highlights
- EA shut down Marcus Lehto’s Ridgeline studio after he left, causing layoffs in the games industry.
- Lehto isn’t pleased with EA due to industry layoffs and the closure of his own studio.
- Some members of Lehto’s team from Ridgeline was shifted to Ripple Effect for the next Battlefield game’s development.
Ex-Battlefield director Marcus Lehto doesn’t “have anything positive to say about EA” after the publisher shut down his Ridgeline Games studio shortly after his resignation. The Ridgeline founder and Halo co-creator was previously working on Battlefield‘s next singleplayer project.
Lehto’s departure came shortly after EA announced in late February that it would cut 5% of its workforce. This included 670 employees around the globe, with EA also announcing that it would be shifting focus to sports games, owned IP, and “massive online communities.” It’s still not confirmed what caused Lehto’s resignation, which was followed by his studio being shuttered a day later. Some Ridgeline employees were kept and transferred to Ripple Effect, f.k.a. DICE LA, but it seems that the bulk of its members were ultimately included in EA’s recent layoffs.
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Shortly after Ridgeline’s demise was announced, Lehto tweeted on February 28 that he was “gut punched” to see his former team get the short end of the stick. Since then, he’s been mostly silent on social media until a tweet on March 15 said he had nothing positive to say “about EA, my recent departure, and how so many, including my team, are suffering due to the industry sweeping layoffs.” Less than three months into 2024, Kotaku reports that at least 8,000 games industry employees have been laid off this year, who worked for companies like Sony, Microsoft, Riot Games, and many more, and last year wasn’t much better when at least 6,000 jobs were cut.
Ex-Battlefield Director Marcus Lehto Has “Nothing Positive To Say” about EA
Lehto has yet to announce his next move, but it seems clear that it won’t involve EA. His work includes over two decades of experience as creative and art director at companies like Bungie and V1 Interactive. Lehto’s departure from EA was combined with the loss of another Battlefield creative director in February when Craig Morrison left the company for Blue Scarab Entertainment.
An EA executive confirmed that the remnants of Lehto’s team were shifted to Ripple Effect to join its central role in the next Battlefield, in which the studio is reportedly working on a battle royale mode for the franchise’s follow-up to 2042. The mode is planned to be a separate, free-to-play option similar to Call of Duty‘s Warzone, and its development is apparently the brainchild of Byron Beede, former live-service lead for Call of Duty. However, it’s expected that EA’s AAA battle royale aims to set itself apart from FPS competitors like Warzone and Apex Legends.
For fans still enjoying EA’s current shooter, Battlefield 2042 recently revealed details of its Season 7 update. The major patch is set to release on March 19.
Battlefield
EA’s Battlefield franchise is a series of first-person shooter games. The games have predominantly been set in the modern day, though there have also been titles set in World War 1, World War 2, and in the near future.
The Battlefield franchise is often compared to Call of Duty, with both franchises offering single-player campaigns and online multiplayer.
