EA shuts down Ridgeline Games, Criterion now handling Battlefield singleplayer campaign

Disruption at publisher Electronic Arts as the Battlefield franchise loses leadership.

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Just days ago, Marcus Lehto left Ridgeline Games. The ex-Halo developer was brought on to help guide Battlefield's story-driven singleplayer content, and EA even formed a studio dedicated to Battlefield's campaign renaissance. It was called Ridgeline Games, and the studio was built on what was formerly DICE LA.

Shortly after Lehto's departure, EA announced its second round of layoffs and closed Ridgeline Games. The news was announced in an update from EA Entertainment president Laura Miele.

"Gut punched to see EA lay off my team. So many very talented devs who were incredibly valuable to the Battlefield franchise," Marcus Lehto said after EA announced the layoffs.

In the update to gamers, EA's Laura Miele also said that Criterion is now in charge of the new Battlefield's offline campaign.

Here's the full memo from Miele:

"Our vision for Battlefield is ambitious and exciting. The project is making meaningful progress, thanks to the strong leadership of Vince Zampella and Byron Beede, and the 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."

The game has yet to be officially announced, but reports indicate that the new Battlefield game will also launch with a free-to-play gametype similar to Warzone.