EA made a surprise announcement today by revealing Ridgeline Games, a new studio to work on the latest, seemingly “campaign-based” Battlefield.
Ridgeline Games is the newest studio amongst EA’s staggering 20+ development teams that has been tapped to work on the storied Battlefield franchise. It will be led by industry veteran Marcus Lehto, who is best known for co-creating the Halo series. The new development team will be specifically designated to build a narrative campaign set in the Battlefield universe.
Back in May, EA CEO Andrew Wilson told TechRadar that Battlefield is being “rethought” from the ground up: “This is one of the great franchises in our industry, built by one of the great teams in our industry, and our expectation is that it will continue to grow and be a really important part of our portfolio for many, many years to come.”
As Game Director and Head of Ridgeline Games, Lehto said, “It is a great honor to have the opportunity to collaborate with DICE and Ripple Effect and lead the charge on expanding the narrative, storytelling and character development opportunities in the Battlefield series.”
Speaking on Ridgeline Games’ involvement with the franchise, Respawn Founder and Head of the Battlefield franchise, Vince Zampella said, “We’re continuing to invest in the future of the franchise by bringing in new talent and perspectives. […] With Marcus and his team at Ridgeline Games joining the world-class global team we have already in place, Battlefield is in the strongest position to succeed.”
Following the mediocre reception of Battlefield 2042 last fall, the franchise could benefit from an overhaul and new priorities. Early players were critical of the last entry at its launch, calling it “broken” and granting its average Metacritic user scores from 1.3 to 2.6, depending on the platform. Our own reviewer called it “more confusing and at odds with itself than any previous entry in the franchise.“
Hopefully the renewal a new team brings can help turn the franchise back around. It seems everyone at EA is on the same page when it comes to the next entry in Battlefield, but only time will tell on its future. Fans interested in the new Ridgeline Games can find them over at Twitter, and those who want to see the full announcement can swing over to the EA page.
