EA wound down Ridgeline Games as a standalone Seattle studio on February 28, 2024. The company said some team members would join Ripple Effect and work with DICE, Ripple Effect, and Criterion on the next Battlefield experience. EA did not say that every Ridgeline employee transferred, or whether the campaign the studio had been assigned to develop was completed, canceled, or carried forward.
What Ridgeline Games was making
Electronic Arts announced Ridgeline Games on September 8, 2022, as a studio in Kirkland, Washington, led by Marcus Lehto, a co-creator of Halo. Its assignment was to develop a narrative campaign in the Battlefield universe, rather than to release a separately announced Ridgeline-branded game. EA’s studio announcement described the project as an effort to expand Battlefield’s storytelling and character development.
Lehto said at the time that he was honored to work with DICE and Ripple Effect on expanding narrative opportunities in the series. That remit helps clarify what EA later announced: the studio’s closure is not, by itself, proof that its campaign was released or canceled.
What EA announced in February 2024
On February 28, 2024, EA Entertainment president Laura Miele said the company would wind down Ridgeline as a standalone studio in Seattle. She said some team members would join Ripple Effect and work with teams across DICE, Ripple Effect, and Criterion on the next Battlefield experience. Miele’s statement also said Criterion leadership would oversee single-player work after Lehto left.
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“Winding down” the standalone studio describes an organizational change. EA’s statement did not establish that all staff were retained, that the proposed campaign was completed, or that the campaign was canceled. It also did not specify how much Ridgeline’s work would carry into the broader Battlefield project.
What happened to Lehto and the staff
EA said Lehto made a personal decision to leave the project. He confirmed in a February 27, 2024, post that he had left EA of his own accord, as GeekWire reported the following day. The timing is clear; the available statements do not establish that Lehto’s departure caused EA to wind down the studio.
EA said some team members would move to Ripple Effect, but did not publish a Ridgeline-specific transfer or layoff count. Two wider workforce figures should not be mistaken for that missing number:
- About 5%: EA CEO Andrew Wilson’s February 28 estimate for the share of EA’s overall workforce affected by the company’s restructuring. It was not a Ridgeline figure. Wilson’s announcement framed the changes as a response to what EA described as changing player needs and a decision to organize around owned intellectual property, sports, and large online communities. This was EA’s explanation for its broader changes, not independent confirmation of the reason for every decision.
- Roughly 670 employees worldwide: an analyst estimate reported by GeekWire in 2024, not an official EA total and not a Ridgeline headcount. The estimate cannot be used to calculate how many Ridgeline roles were eliminated.
What is known about the planned campaign
The public announcements establish Ridgeline’s original assignment and the subsequent restructuring of Battlefield’s development organization. They do not resolve the campaign’s final status: the sources cited here do not say whether it was completed, canceled, or incorporated into another team’s work. Nor do they identify a released game as Ridgeline’s finished project. A studio winding down and a particular game being canceled are distinct claims; the available statements support the first, not the second.
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