Former Battlefield Director Disappointed With EA

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.

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.

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