Marcus Lehto is the co-creator of the Halo games and was lead creative on every Bungie Halo game until 2012. He then left the company to set up his own business with the studio V1 Interactive (which produced the shooter Disintegration) before moving to EA in 2021 Ridgeline Games foundeda Seattle-based developer who worked on it a new Battlefield game with more story focus.
I say “was” because Ridgeline has unfortunately become one of the latest victims a brutal period of layoffs in gaming and tech. At the end of February, EA announced that it would close the studio and lay off all employees. Around the same time, Lehto announced this leaves the publisher. And he's not a happy camper.
“It's a shock for me to see how EA fired my team” said Lehto on X. “So many very talented developers who have been incredibly valuable to the Battlefield franchise.”
Lehto wants to make one thing clear: “Yes, I left EA of my own accord. This was a very difficult decision for me.” He thanks the Battlefield community and wishes the remaining teams at EA all the best for the future, then turns his guns on the publisher.
“I haven't said much here because I don't have anything positive to say about EA [and] “My recent departure,” says Lehto. “And how many, including my team, are suffering from the massive layoffs in the industry,” Lehto later posted On Linkedin He said he was “incredibly upset and very sad” about the layoffs and that Ridgeline “are very talented people whose lives are being needlessly upended.”
The single-player campaign in the works at Ridgeline was a joint development with DICE, which Lehto previously said would “engage players in new ways.” Apparently it was an independent project, although it is not known whether anything will happen to it now.
Lehto is enough of an industry veteran not to say what he really thinks: But it's certainly possible to say what he really thinks, and that statement clearly cuts deep. Lehto ended his post by announcing that he would take a break from the industry and think about it he even wants to return. “In the meantime, I will be taking some time off from the games to see what, if anything, I want to do next.”
