EA shuts down Ridgeline Games, single-player Battlefield game moving to Criterion

Earlier this week, we learned that Halo co-creator, Marcus Lehto, was leaving EA and Ridgeline Games, just two years after setting the studio up to tackle a new single-player Battlefield game. Now, it seems that Lehto got out at the right time, as Ridgeline Games is being closed down. 

While Lehto did state that he left EA of his own accord, he didn't share much about the circumstances that led to this decision. Now, rather than finding a new director to lead Ridgeline Games, EA is instead opting to shut the studio down as part of a company-wide cost-cutting effort.

Ridgeline Games first formed in 2021, a rebrand of the EA Seattle studio. In 2022, the studio was announced under its new name and was put in charge of developing a new campaign for Battlefield. The studio is now “winding down”, and while some of the people working there may be able to find other positions within EA at another studio, EA is also firing roughly 700 employees, so there may not be a lot of open positions left.

While Ridgeline Games will cease to exist, a single-player Battlefield campaign is still in the works, but now it will be handled by Criterion, the studio best known for Need of Speed.

Aside from this studio closure and round of layoffs, EA has also cancelled some unannounced projects, the most notable of which is Respawn's Star Wars shooter, which was reportedly set to feature a Mandalorian bounty hunter and fast-paced gameplay.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Like Embracer Group, Sony, Microsoft and many other studios across the industry, EA is also hitting employees with a round of layoffs. It certainly seems like a rough time to be in game development and the industry will no doubt end up losing some very good talent to another industry following all of this. 

Become a Patron!