Battlefield 2042 was not well received at launch, but was able to get back on its feet thanks to numerous updates and a lot of content.
Marcus Lehto no longer works at EA: This bad news is currently spreading like wildfire through the Battlefield community.
The veteran developer and co-inventor of Halo was brought on board shortly after the disastrous release of Battlefield 2042 and ran his own studio at EA, Ridgeline Games.
EA suddenly deleted from profile
The drastic step became known on social media. Like the Battlefield expert, for example DANNYonPC
Link to Twitter content
A short time later, the suspicion was confirmed: It is now clear from his LinkedIn profile that Lehto has left EA. However, there is no statement or formal announcement of his departure.
Why was Lehto so important to Battlefield?
Many fans interpret Lehto’s sudden departure as a setback for Battlefield: As game director, he was actually supposed to set a new course for the brand and had already collected basic fan feedback in 2022.
At that time he indicated that he wanted to focus more on the dark mood of earlier series parts as well as the dynamic destruction and the focus on vehicles such as jets. His studio Ridgeline was intended to expand Battlefield’s overarching identity and create a kind of coherent Battlefield universe.
What does this mean for the future of Battlefield?
There are now concerns in the community as to whether and in what form Lehto’s studio will continue to exist and work on Battlefield.
According to its careers page, Ridgeline Games currently has no openings and the studio’s art director had already left in January 2024. DANNYonPC comments: “Are the problems already starting?”
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Battlefield 2042 – With Season 5, the shooter is finally on track!
A new Battlefield part is currently being worked on at the development studio Ripple Effect (formerly DICE Los Angeles), which, according to EA, will be based on the foundations of the series.
The project is headed by Respawn boss Vince Zampella (Star Wars Jedi, Apex Legends, Titanfall). The former main Battlefield developer DICE in Sweden will only provide support in the future. It is not known when the new project will be presented. Meanwhile, BF2042 will start Season 7 from March 2024.
