In a new post on LinkedIn, Lehto wrote about the contributions that had been made by Ridgeline Games for between one and 2.5 years before the project was eventually handed off to other developers. For context, Ridgeline Games, where Lehto served as vice president, general manager and creative director, was in charge of developing the single-player campaign for Battlefield 6 before the studio’s closure. Work on the campaign was subsequently taken up by Criterion.

“I’m disappointed to see that many of my former teammates from Ridgeline Games were not properly credited in the recent release of Battlefield 6,” wrote Lehto on LinkedIn.

“These talented developers worked tirelessly for 1 to 2.5 years, building the foundation of the game, before I left voluntarily and the studio was subsequently shuttered. Despite their significant contributions, most who were laid off were relegated to a ‘Special Thanks’ section at the very end of the credits — and several were omitted entirely, including myself.”

To give credit where it is due, Lehto has posted an image that features the names of quite a few of the developers who had worked on Battlefield 6 at Ridgeline Games whose names were omitted from the in-game credits. Along with Lehto, these names include software engineers Jessica Moore and Dan Carr, lead tech artist Rohan Knuckey, and lead character artist Andres Naranjo.

“Out of respect for my colleagues and the awesome work they poured into this project, I want to take a moment to properly recognize them — listing their names and roles as I would have preferred them to appear in the credits,” he wrote. “Game development is a team effort, and every contributor deserves fair acknowledgment.”

In the meantime, EA, along with Battlefield Studios, have been celebrating the success of Battlefield 6. Just last week, EA had confirmed that more than 7 million copies of the shooter had been sold across PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in the first three days of its release. The launch weekend for the game also saw more than 172 million matches played, and around 15 million hours accumulated in watch time by fans watching players through platforms like Twitch.

“We never take moments like this for granted, so I want to express our sincere gratitude to our global Battlefield Studios and passionate community that has helped get us to this point,” said Battlefield Studios executive VP Vince Zampella in a press release. “We appreciate you joining us for Battlefield 6‘s momentous launch. We have so much more to come in the weeks ahead.”

For more details about Battlefield 6, check out our review. Also check out our complete guide to its Portal system, as well as how you can make the best use of its server browser. And while we’re at it, let’s discuss everything wrong with Battlefield 6.

February saw the launch of Helldivers 2, which continues to soar in popularity and receive new features like firestorms, mechs and new weapons. Then you have other major titles like Tekken 8 and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth selling well, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth ranking second in the PlayStation Store for February despite only being on sale for a day.

However, in the midst of all this have been extensive layoffs and studio changes, whether it’s Activision Blizzard following its acquisition by Microsoft or Sony shutting down its London Studio while also reportedly cancelling its Twisted Metal reboot. Last year saw over 10,000 jobs lost over its entire course. Meanwhile, there have been over 8,000 layoffs as of February 2024, with few signs of slowing down.

While the industry has been suffering since last year, one of the few publishers that appeared to be navigating the layoffs well was Electronic. That is until it announced 670 layoffs on February 29th, 2024. Perhaps even more surprising is that it confirmed the closure of Ridgeline Games, a studio established to work on narrative-driven campaigns for the Battlefield series. That work has now passed on to Need for Speed developer Criterion, with some remaining developers joining Ripple Effect.

At first glance, it may seem like yet another studio closure on top of all the others, but Battlefield has suffered for years. While there’s been discontent over the handling of Battlefield 5 (and the abrupt end to post-launch support), it all really started to unravel with Battlefield 2042. From an announcement garnering extensive hype – Battlefield is back, the modern era is back, and so on – it quickly attracted skepticism due to the lack of a campaign and a $70 price tag. There was also a focus on Specialists over the traditional class system, but players were willing to be patient and see how things unfolded.

The first delay was announced in September 2021, but due to the pandemic, it seemed understandable that DICE would want more time to get it right (especially since it was working from home). After all, it was the biggest Battlefield ever with DICE, Criterion Games and Ripple Effect on board.

However, when the open beta landed in October, and many went hands-on with the game for the first time, alarm bells promptly went off. Terrible performance, missing features, lackluster environmental destruction, and of course, that UI. That darn UI. DICE and Electronic Arts promptly put out damage control, claiming the beta was several months old, which insider Tom Henderson reported wasn’t the case.

Subsequent reports emerged about the state of development – how the project began as a battle royale title, the pivot to 128-player matches and other baffling decisions. While these were all reports at the time and could thus be taken with some grain of salt, there’s no denying that the beta killed a lot of the hype for players.

Fast forward to its launch in November. The early access response was already very negative, but when it finally became available for everyone on Steam, it was swamped with negative reviews. Within a few days, only 26 percent of the tens of thousands of reviews were positive.

The Metacritic score wasn’t much kinder, as scores ranged from 61 on Xbox Series X/S to 68 on PS5, cementing its position as the one of the lowest-rated title in the genre. DICE tried to spin this, noting that its title had millions of players and almost twice as many at launch as the last game. Even Henderson reported some 4.23 million copies sold in the first week.

However, it was later reported that the figure consisted of refunds and those who played the time-limited trial through EA Play. Season 1 would also face a significant delay as DICE began addressing the many bugs and issues in the game. Thus began months of the development team promising to do better and outlining upcoming changes (including a scoreboard refresh in March 2022 – nearly five months after launch).

By the time Season 1 finally arrived, the damage was already done – from an all-time peak of 100,590 concurrent players, it dropped to as low as 1,731. Such was the backlash to the title that it even partially contributed to the cancellation of Battlefield Mobile.

The updates and content additions continued, but it was clear that something had to change. By December 2021, Electronic Arts announced a new multi-studio approach for Battlefield while DICE would work on new titles while still supporting Battlefield 2042, Ripple Effect was tasked with a “new experience”, and Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto would lead a newly established studio.

Its objective was to expand on Battlefield 2042’s narrative and provide a “variety of experiences” for “later seasons”, eventually going beyond the title. However, in September 2022, Electronic Arts revealed it as Ridgeline Studios. At the time, Lehto said it would “lead the charge on expanding the narrative, storytelling, and character development opportunities in Battlefield.”

While his work on Halo speaks for itself, Lehto’s recent efforts, like V1 Interactive’s Disintegration, had garnered mixed reactions, with servers for the title shutting down just a few months after launch. The studio, which Lehto founded, would follow soon after.

In February 2023, DICE revealed it was making a new team to assist Ridgeline on “the next chapter for Battlefield.” In August 2023, CEO Andrew Wilson said the next game in the series would serve as “a reimagination of Battlefield as a truly connected ecosystem.” He never explained what that meant, and the developers didn’t volunteer any information, but the initiative would receive a new addition in September 2023 with Criterion Games.

Most of the team focused on assisting Ripple Effect, DICE and Ridgeline while the core worked on whatever was happening next with Need for Speed. However, two years had passed since establishing the new multi-studio approach with no announcements.

On February 25th, one unofficial development quickly gained traction – Marcus Lehto had left Ridgeline Games. There was no official word from him or Electronic Arts on his departure. Lehto would later tweet on February 27th that he had left Electronic Arts of his own accord, calling it a “very tough decision to make.” He thanked the community for their feedback and wished the “teams at EA all the best moving forward.”

Regarding the future, an EA spokesperson said, “Marcus Lehto has made the personal decision to step down as the Director of Battlefield Narrative. The work on Battlefield 2042 and our upcoming, unannounced Battlefield Universe continues.” Nothing further, not even thanking him for his work. With Lehto announcing he’s “taking time away from games”, it could have been a sensitive issue that EA didn’t want to call too much attention to.

On February 28th, 2024, Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson reported that the next mainline Battlefield title was targeting a launch in October 2025. It sounded like a dream come true for players – the return of the Class system, 64-player battles, improved destruction, a modern-day setting and a “strong story-driven emphasis on modern technology used in war.” Meanwhile, Ripple Effect was reportedly working on a free-to-play battle royale experience that would tie into the latest game.

As well and good as this all sounded, on February 29th, Electronic Arts dropped the bomb, confirming layoffs and Ridgeline’s closure. Electronic Arts said its vision for Battlefield was “ambitious and exciting”, and that the project is making “meaningful progress” with the “largest team ever.”

However, when it came to Lehto, it was noted that he made “a personal decision to leave the project” and that Criterion was “immediately appointed” for single-player work to continue work “uninterrupted.” Again, no thanks for Lehto’s efforts or even acknowledging his contributions. On March 16th, he finally responded and didn’t have “anything positive to say about Electronic Arts”, his departure or how so many developers, including his team, are “suffering due to the industry sweeping layoffs.”

While there are many ways to interpret this, the most straightforward could be that Electronic Arts wasn’t satisfied with Ridgeline’s efforts and decided to close the studio. Lehto may have been asked to remain, perhaps joining some (but not all) remaining employees to work with Ripple Effect, but instead chose to quit out of solidarity.

This is all speculation, but consider how DICE formed another team to assist Ridgeline, originally meant to “lead the charge” on expanding the Battlefield series’ narrative. Discontent with the latter’s efforts may have begun early on, and this was an attempt to “right the ship” that never panned out.

Having Criterion take over isn’t the strangest development, especially given its experience on Battlefield, from developing the battle royale mode Firestorm to the vehicles in Battlefield 2042. However, its shift over to Battlefield mere months after the establishment of DICE’s “new team” could have been preparation for its eventual takeover of single-player development (if things didn’t go well for Ridgeline). Call it a conspiracy theory, but considering the timeline of events, it all lines up a little too neatly to be coincidental.

Regardless of what happened to lead to Lehto’s departure and the closure of Ridgeline, it feels like Battlefield’s future is in flux. You could argue that Battlefield 2042 is doing better – despite still having a “Mixed” rating on Steam, it reached a peak concurrent total of 107,376 players on October 16th 2023. Even the recent 24-hour peak of 25,226 players is a far cry from the nightmarish numbers of years prior.

Season 7 is set to kick off this week and should be live by now, which is almost miraculous considering rumors that the title wouldn’t even make it past Year 1. It’s getting some backlash, particularly in removing the Stadium as part of the Hourglass revamp, turning it into a separate map and then proclaiming it as “new” (though it’s likely to have its share of changes). There’s some interest, even if the hype is tame compared to the genre’s previous peaks.

The question isn’t whether DICE can sustain interest in Battlefield 2042 until its next big game launches. If EA continues giving the okay on new updates and content, and there’s revenue generated from the Battle Passes, then it’s considered a win in today’s industry. However, for what’s supposed to be the biggest Battlefield team ever, you would expect something, anything, by now.

Maybe DICE, Ripple Effect and Criterion are gearing up for a big reveal, one that will showcase multiple titles and outline Battlefield’s direction in the coming years. Maybe it’ll establish a dedicated ecosystem, a one-stop destination for everything Battlefield, starting with the next mainline title whenever it launches.

Regardless, it’s a strange time to be a Battlefield player. Battlefield has fallen into its own rut while seemingly chasing the competition. It agonizingly pulled itself out for the better but is now in limbo. Full-price live service titles continue to fail, so Battlefield 2042 understandably deserves some credit for still hanging in there despite it all.

However, as far as the future is concerned, one has to wonder if Electronic Arts’ ambition will ultimately pay off and deliver a Battlefield worthy of its legacy. Time will tell, as always, but how much remains until the next internal shift or round of layoffs, no one can really say, and that’s the biggest worry.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Unsurprisingly, in the aftermath of those events, the aforementioned Lehto isn’t feeling too sunny about his time at Electronic Arts. Taking to Twitter, Lehto acknowledged that he hasn’t been “saying much” about EA, explaining that that’s because he doesn’t have “anything positive to say” about the company, about his departure, or about how his studio was affected by the company’s layoffs.

“Not been saying much here since I don’t have anything positive to say about EA, my recent departure, and how so many, including my team, are suffering due to the industry sweeping layoffs,” Lehto said. Interestingly enough, Lehto has also liked a tweet in response to his own that labels EA as “the epitome of corporate greed.”

At the time of Ridgeline Games’ closure, EA’s president of entertainment and technology Laura Miele said that Lehto had “made a personal decision to leave the project”, and that Criterion Games had now taken over future single-player Battlefield development.

Not been saying much here since I don’t have anything positive to say about EA, my recent departure, and how so many, including my team, are suffering due to the industry sweeping layoffs.

— Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) March 15, 2024

The studio’s closure was revealed in a statement by EA’s president of entertainment and technology, Laura Miele, who stated that development of future Battlefield single player content is being taken over by Criterion Games, which was confirmed to be working on the franchise last September, while some members of the team at Ridgeline will also be offered roles at Ripple Effect Studios, which is developing a standalone multiplayer Battlefield experience (allegedly a free-to-play battle royale title).

“Our vision for Battlefield is ambitious and exciting,” Miele wrote. “The project is making meaningful progress, thanks to the strong leadership of Vince Zampella and Byron Beede and dedicated studios committed to building a Battlefield platform our fans will love. Today, we have the largest Battlefield team in the franchise’s history, with passionate people in place across the globe and our studios organized to benefit from both franchise and local leadership.

“Marcus Lehto recently made a personal decision to leave the project. To ensure our work continues uninterrupted, we immediately appointed leadership at Criterion to oversee our single-player work. As part of this change, we’ll be winding down Ridgeline as a standalone studio in Seattle, with some team members joining Ripple Effect. They’ll continue to work with teams across DICE, Ripple, and Criterion as they build the next Battlefield experience.”

EA first confirmed in 2021 that it had established a new studio in Seattle to work on narrative-driven single player campaigns for future Battlefield instalments, before formally unveiling the studio as Ridgeline Games the following year. Later, it was confirmed that the team was working with DICE on the next Battlefield game. Recent reports have claimed that the title is targeting an October 2025 launch.

Another studio that has been impacted by Electronic Arts’ mass layoffs is Respawn Entertainment, with EA having confirmed that the studio’s single player Star Wars FPS has been cancelled.

“Yes, I left EA on my own accord. It was a very tough decision for me to make. I want to thank the Battlefield community for allowing me to listen to you while I was able. Your feedback will help make Battlefield stronger. I wish the teams at EA all the best moving forward.”

Lehto also revealed that he’s taking time away from the industry to see “what, if anything, I want to do next.” Known for co-creating the Halo series, Lehto would later found V1 Interactive, which launched Disintegration to disappointing sales. The studio later shut down, and he joined Electronic Arts to lead the newly-established Ridgeline Games.

As for ongoing projects, an EA spokesperson told IGN, “Marcus Lehto has made the personal decision to step down as the Director of Battlefield Narrative. The work on Battlefield 2042 and our upcoming, unannounced Battlefield Universe continues.”

Aside from Ridgeline’s narrative titles, a new free-to-play battle royale Battlefield game from Ripple Effect is rumored to be in development. The next mainline entry in the series is also reportedly in the works at DICE and targeting a launch in October 2025. It will allegedly feature 64-player matches, the return of traditional classes, and a modern-day setting with “a strong story-driven emphasis on modern technology used in war.” Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months.

Yes, I left EA on my own accord.
This was very a tough decision for me to make.

I want to thank the Battlefield community for allowing me to listen to you while I was able. Your feedback will help make Battlefield stronger.
I wish the teams at EA all the best moving forward.

— Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) February 27, 2024

In the meantime, I will be taking time away from games to see what, if anything, I want to do next.

— Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) February 27, 2024

Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson has published a new report that claims that Ripple Effect’s unknown Battlefield game is going to be a free-to-play battle royale title. Headed up by former Call of Duty boss Byron Beede, the studio is seemingly envisioning the game, which is supposedly Beede’s personal “brainchild”, as an experience similar to Call of Duty: Warzone.

That means the battle royale title will tie into the series’ next game, though whether that means it will be available at the same time, or launch some time later (or before) is unspecified. In addition to a classic battle royale mode, the game will allegedly also have a new mode named Gauntlet, where teams will compete against each other in objective-based rounds, with the lowest-scoring team being kicked out at the end of each one.

Previously, Beede has said that Ripple Effect Studios’ Battlefield game will “complement and build upon the series’ foundations.” Read more on that through here.

Of course, this isn’t Battlefield’s first crack at a battle royale experience, though it’s fair to say that Battlefield 5’s Firestorm and Battlefield 2042’s Hazard Zone didn’t hit the mark the way fans had hoped. They weren’t full-fledged free-to-play experiences though, so perhaps the series will find more success with a new model.

According to the report, the next mainline Battlefield game is targeting an October 2025 launch, and is being internally billed as a “back to the roots” game for the series. As such, the game will feature 64-player multiplayer battles, while also bringing back the series’ four-class system and implementing improvements to the destruction mechanics, something that previous job listings have also suggested.

Allegedly, the game will take place in a modern-day setting (somewhere between the years 2025 and 2030), while placing “a strong story-driven emphasis on modern technology used in war”. What that means for a single player campaign – in development at Ridgeline Games – remains to be seen, especially with director and studio head Marcus Lehto recently having left the company.

Henderson also claims that the next Battlefield game will be accompanied with a tie-in free-to-play battle royale experience developed by Ripple Effect Studios. Read more on that through here.

Lehto’s association with EA and the Battlefield series seems to have come to a premature end, however. As spotted by Twitter user @DANNYonPC, Lehto recently removed all references of Battlefield from his Twitter profile’s bio, and shortly afterward, confirmed on his Facebook page that he had left his job as VP and GM at Ridgeline Games.

There has been no communication from Lehto or from Electronic Arts about his sudden departure, nor is there word on what (if anything) this means for the company’s plans for Battlefield in terms of its narrative-driven campaigns.

Work on the next Battlefield game is ongoing at DICE, while Ripple Effect Studios is also working on a new Battlefield experience that will supposedly “complement and build” on the series’ foundations. Last September, it was revealed that Need for Speed developer Criterion Games was also once again providing development support on the Battlefield franchise.

CEO Andrew Wilson mentioned the next Battlefield game only in passing while speaking about major upcoming games that EA studios are currently at work on, and in doing so, referred to the title as “a reimagination of Battlefield as a truly connected ecosystem.”

Wilson did not elaborate further, so what shape that “connected ecosystem” will take remains to be seen. Presumably, EA will look to do something with multiple connected games and experiences all feeding into a single hub, similar to the model that Call of Duty has adopted in recent years.

Back in 2021, EA announced that it was adopting a new multi-studio model for Battlefield that will see multiple different teams working on several different kinds of experiences within the franchise. Currently, DICE is working on the next mainline Battlefield game, which will also feature a narrative-driven single player campaign developed by Ridgeline Games. The game is rumoured to launch sometime in 2024. Meanwhile, Ripple Effect Studios is also currently working on a separate Battlefield experience.

Earlier this year, EA announced it had cancelled Battlefield Mobile.

In its recent Q4 2023 earnings call (transcript via The Motley Fool), CEO Andrew Wilson was asked if there were any updates on projects associated with the Battlefield IP. Wilson said, “We don’t have any date announcements or future announcements, if that’s the question, certainly this time. What I’d say is I think we’ve put together an extraordinary creative leadership team. I know we’ve got the team gathering this week in Sweden.

“I had a call this morning with some of the leadership, and they’re very bullish on how that’s progressing. I think we’ve got extraordinary confidence in that team and extraordinary confidence in the progress they’re making against the future of that franchise. And I come back to we’re not just building a game. We’re building a platform, content as a platform, to drive live services over the decades to come.”

Over time and when it’s appropriate, Electronic Arts will talk more about Battlefield’s future. However, it’s “firmly implanted” in “that first pillar of our strategy: building games and experiences that attract and entertain massive online communities across platforms, business models and geographies. And we think that Battlefield is going to be a meaningful part of our future. And we’ll share more as time progresses.”

Following the release of Battlefield 2042, EA established a multi-studio initiative to work on the series with Respawn Entertainment head Vince Zampella as the franchise head. DICE is rumored to be working on a new mainline title, which could launch in 2024, while Ripple Effect Studios has a new Battlefield experience in the works. Then there’s Ridgeline Games, led by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto, working on a narrative campaign for Battlefield. Stay tuned for any updates in the coming years.