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EA is shuttering Ridgeline Video games, the studio co-founded by former Halo developer Marcus Lehto that was tasked with creating the narrative marketing campaign within the subsequent Battlefield. The closure follows phrase of Lehto’s departure earlier this week and coincides with a broader restructuring introduced earlier as we speak that can see EA lay off some 670 workers amid a shift away from future licensed IPs. The work that was begun on the Battlefield single-player marketing campaign will proceed.
In an inside word, EA Leisure president Laura Miele stated that Criterion producer Danny Isaac and studio head of inventive Darren White will substitute Lehto to proceed work on the deliberate narrative marketing campaign, with some members of Ridgeline Video games becoming a member of Ripple Impact to proceed engaged on Battlefield. DICE, Criterion and Ripple Impact are all at the moment at work on the following Battlefield sport, which has been confirmed however not absolutely revealed.
The closure is an abrupt finish for Ridgeline Video games, which was established in 2022 to work on the marketing campaign led by Lehto. Lehto is a Bungie veteran whose portfolio contains serving as inventive director on Halo: Attain. He joined EA within the wake of criticism over Battlefield 2042’s lack of a single-player narrative marketing campaign.
Lehto lately departed EA on what he says was “my very own accord,” with EA calling it a “private choice.” In her word, Miele expressed confidence within the upcoming Battlefield sport, calling it “formidable and thrilling” and saying that it’s “making significant progress.” Miele praised the studios and management she says is “dedicated to constructing a Battlefield platform our followers will love.”
EA’s strikes add to a interval of turmoil for the video games business as Sony, Xbox, and different main publishers and platform holders reduce jobs and shut studios, with greater than 6000 video games business employees are estimated to have misplaced their jobs in 2024 alone. CEO Andrew Wilson has stated that EA’s “main objective is to offer crew members with alternatives to search out new roles and paths to transition onto different initiatives.”
“I have been within the business for 15 years and I’ve by no means seen issues this dangerous,” stated one developer who had been lately let go in our report on the continued layoffs. “Everyone seems to be scared and ready to see if their studio goes to be subsequent. I’m anxious that this yr goes to trigger actual, everlasting injury and scarring to the sport devs affected, and it isn’t going to be good. The aftershocks of this are going to resonate for the foreseeable future. Video games are in the end a labor of affection and creativity, and a demoralized workforce just isn’t going to be at its finest.”
Kat Bailey is IGN’s Information Director in addition to co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Ship her a DM at @the_katbot.
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