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[Eddie-Griffin]

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2022/09/ea-announces-new-ridgeline-games-studio-led-by-halo-co-creator

EA has created a brand-new development studio to help build the Battlefield series moving forward. Ridgeline Games is a new Seattle-based team under the EA banner, and it's been spun up to start developing a "narrative campaign set in the Battlefield universe". Here's what the studio's game director and ex-Halo dev, Marcus Lehto, had to say about the project:

"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."

Lehto isn't the only famous name now behind EA's Battlefield series either. Respawn Entertainment founder Vince Zampella is now the overarching head of Battlefield, and he's chimed in on the new EA startup as well.

"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."

DICE's latest series entry, Battlefield 2042, famously skipped a narrative campaign of any kind in favour of focusing on the series' signature multiplayer action.

EA scooped up potential talent Microsoft should have gotten for Halo oh well.

But maybe this means Battlefield will be competitive with COD again after all these years, they will be adding a campaign back into the next entry and they have a new studio let by experienced staff that can finally craft a narrative around Battlefield.

 

[N1tr0sOx1d3]

They would have to go back several iterations for me to be interested in this series again.
BFBC2 remake or BFBC3 please then you have my attention.

 

[Lone Wolf]

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2022/09/ea-announces-new-ridgeline-games-studio-led-by-halo-co-creator


EA scooped up potential talent Microsoft should have gotten for Halo oh well.

But maybe this means Battlefield will be competitive with COD again after all these years, they will be adding a campaign back into the next entry and they have a new studio let by experienced staff that can finally craft a narrative around Battlefield.

There is a lot of old Halo talent at 343. Means nothing.

 

[winjer]

I already lost hope in EA, DICE and the Battlefield franchise.
They are welcome to prove me wrong, and make a good game. But the chances of that are slim.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

They sank everything into that fucking franchise. Fuckin' EA.

 

[Timberwolf25]

Marcus Lehto was more recently at Bungie with Destiny 2 right?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

So they'd make a standalone BF SP game? Or they'd handle the SP part of a mainline BF game?

 

[MiguelItUp]

I honestly feel like the series I once loved is dead. After 2042, all I wanna do is see Battlefield get done right after that disaster. But I can't help but feel like it will never happen. I know some people enjoyed the campaigns, but I personally didn't care for them because for many years they didn't exist in the series. Such a shame to know where BF came from and where it went.

 

[Negotiator101]

There is a lot of old Halo talent at 343. Means nothing.

343 are individually very talented, I'm pretty certain the problem is that old ass Halo engine that they can't seen to put to bed permanently.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

There is a lot of old Halo talent at 343. Means nothing.

Not really, at least not in the 3/reach area. For top jobs higher up the chain.

 

[splattered]

Marcus Lehto was more recently at Bungie with Destiny 2 right?

No this is the dude that made the terrible disintegration game that HARD tanked... Not sure MS would have wanted him and not sure why EA did.

 

[FearlessBelgian]

Battlefield don't need a Single player...

 

[R6Rider]

Battlefield don't need a Single player...

Lots of people complained about it lacking one despite the only goods ones being Bad Company and Bad Company 2.

 

[coffinbirth]

Just make another Bad Company you goddamned cowards!

 

[The Alien]

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2022/09/ea-announces-new-ridgeline-games-studio-led-by-halo-co-creator


EA scooped up potential talent Microsoft should have gotten for Halo oh well.

But maybe this means Battlefield will be competitive with COD again after all these years, they will be adding a campaign back into the next entry and they have a new studio let by experienced staff that can finally craft a narrative around Battlefield.

Well, they did grab Joseph Staten - the likely next studio lead. But that's minor details , I suppose.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Well, they did grab Joseph Staten - the likely next studio lead. But that's minor details , I suppose.

Staten is a general clean up man at the game studios, they likely wouldn't want him at 343 permanently unless they can't find someone else. You can tell how shook Bonnie was when he brought him next to her to speak in that video.

 

[Thabass]

Marcus Lehto was more recently at Bungie with Destiny 2 right?

He had his own studio that created the game Disintegration.

I know, because I helped with their community stuff.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Just make another Bad Company you goddamned cowards!

EA or at least some of their staff said to some effect the reason why there's no bad company, or remakes of the existing ones, or even really a major remaster of the original ones, is because EA has grown and is better than that, and is more welcoming and inclusive.

Now the company itself did not officially make the line but iirc they were emplyees and so they were speaking on the companies behalf. I think that was posted (and celebrated) on the other site.

 

[Skifi28]

They should do something about the old battlefield Studio that even fails at copy-pasting and new games release with the same issues that were fixed on the previous ones.

 

[Sosokrates]

Talent goes around all the time.. its not a story.

 

[coffinbirth]

EA or at least some of their staff said to some effect the reason why there's no bad company, or remakes of the existing ones, or even really a major remaster of the original ones, is because EA has grown and is better than that, and is more welcoming and inclusive.

Now the company itself did not officially make the line but iirc they were emplyees and so they were speaking on the companies behalf. I think that was posted (and celebrated) on the other site.

Hence calling them cowards.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

So their giving up on Dice? What about EA Gottenburg? I guess the Swedish devs will go to work at Embracer or something.

 

[R6Rider]

So their giving up on Dice? What about EA Gottenburg? I guess the Swedish devs will go to work at Embracer or something.

No. Ridgeline is doing the campaign, and DICE is doing the multiplayer and maybe also getting help with Ripple Effect (formerly DICE LA).

 

[Deputy Moonman]

343 are individually very talented, I'm pretty certain the problem is that old ass Halo engine that they can't seen to put to bed permanently.

That is one possible contributing factor, but it's also an issue of management not sticking to one vision for Halo. 343 were in a way forced to take the new additions that were implemented into Halo Reach and carry that over into their first take on Halo 4. Halo 5 was a complete departure from Halo 4, meaning devs had to redo/rethink a lot of things. And then it's no secret that Halo Infinite went through more than one iteration before being scrapped and redone with a newer engine or version of the previous game engine. So, it's not like 343 devs have been able to just take what they know and optimize for the next Halo game installment. Every single new game has been a huge change. It feels like management keeps pulling the rug out from under them. And that may or not actually be true, but it sure feels that way.

Staten is a general clean up man at the game studios, they likely wouldn't want him at 343 permanently unless they can't find someone else. You can tell how shook Bonnie was when he brought him next to her to speak in that video.

I saw the same thing mentioned in a different thread and I'm not sure I believe it's the case this time around. MS would be wise to keep Staten on Halo long term, assuming he's willing to do it. And for goodness sake please clean some house at the top levels.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Why is OP suggesting an unproven studio is more important to get than a proven one that just launched a GOTY winning FPS like Halo Infinite? Folks gotta learn to separate delayed features and slow content updates from the actual quality of the game.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Why is OP suggesting an unproven studio is more important to get than a proven one that just launched a GOTY winning FPS like Halo Infinite? Folks gotta learn to separate delayed features and slow content updates from the actual quality of the game.

I was talking about the person leading it not the studio lol.

So their giving up on Dice? What about EA Gottenburg? I guess the Swedish devs will go to work at Embracer or something.

Yeah, I guess they are shutting the studio down? Haven't DICE only made Battlefield games?

 

[FearlessBelgian]

Lots of people complained about it lacking one despite the only goods ones being Bad Company and Bad Company 2.

Yeah the same one who was listened by EA for BF 2042... LOL

 

[SenjutsuSage]

I was talking about the person leading it not the studio lol.



Yeah, I guess they are shutting the studio down? Haven't DICE only made Battlefield games?

I stand corrected. You gotta keep in mind though, there's a lot of talent out there. What could he do for Halo Infinite that 343i hasn't already done as a team? I don't know if he alone makes them produce content faster. Nor does campaign co-op and forge come faster. He alone simply doesn't solve their technical challenge for campaign co-op due to their new open world campaign structure. It was never an issue of studio capability, but time.

The biggest mistake made by Xbox and 343i was not knowing or realizing much earlier that they needed more time. I don't believe Phil was clued in fast enough. Bonnie and Matt Booty, that's definitely on them, and by extension also on Phil since he should have caught it sooner. But perhaps he thought things were coming along great and they would make it on time.

All said, it's clear what took place with 343i is that they were saddled with a very challenging task of launching with Series X|S. Once they realized that wasn't going to be possible, they delayed it for a year. But even then they likely realized they would need a little more time since they told us they couldn't ship with campaign co-op, but delaying it further past holiday 2021 simply just wasn't a realistic option. It needed to launch in 2021. Launching any later would have been disastrous. So once launched they clearly started to use this post launch period to work on all their top priorities that they couldn't ship in time for launch. I feel good they'll get there. In the last update video they put out, they laid out a plan and set of priorities that they have in place and want to execute on at a high level come end of 2023.

Either way, I'm excited for what comes out of this. Battlefield has much potential.

 

[Shubh_C63]

So they'd make a standalone BF SP game? Or they'd handle the SP part of a mainline BF game?

I am just as confused. Seems like a disaster with two separate teams working on the same product.

If not that we get another Battlefield:Hardline.. ha!

 

[TheGecko]

I loved Battlefield, Must have played tens of thousands of hours across the years from the first iteration.

But that franchise is dead now. They called me every name under the sun and catered to people that obviously hasn't financially kept them going.

My only comment to that franchise now is, get woke go broke you bunch of weird cunts.

 

[kanjobazooie]

They need to hire Marty so that he can sue them later.

 

[Louay]

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2022/09/ea-announces-new-ridgeline-games-studio-led-by-halo-co-creator


EA scooped up potential talent Microsoft should have gotten for Halo oh well.

But maybe this means Battlefield will be competitive with COD again after all these years, they will be adding a campaign back into the next entry and they have a new studio let by experienced staff that can finally craft a narrative around Battlefield.

great news, also this is what MS should have done with Halo IP. give these 343i clowns some in house competition.

 

[Gudji]

Battlefield is going downwhill fast what a shame. Hopefully someone will come up with a similar game.

 

[Bernkastel]

EA scooped up potential talent Microsoft should have gotten for Halo oh well.

Marcus Lehto has not worked under Microsoft since 2007 and under Bungie since 2012. His last job was a FPS game at V1 interactive in partnership with Private Division of Take Two

V1 Interactive is officially closing its doors

V1 Interactive, the developer of sci-fi FPS Disintegration, announced that it is officially closing today. "We want to …

www.gamesindustry.biz

Not saying he is bad. But I don't think they were in desparate need of this one guy. Rather Microsoft should acquire Certain Affinity
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/ceo-...-a-tweet-about-microsoft-buying-them.1634722/

 

[CuteFaceJay]

 

[Blitzmangoman]

Eh, I don't have any hope left for Battlefield. Prove me wrong and then I will buy your game on sale, lol.