EA ready to roll the dice on Battlefield with fresh gamble on Halo’s pedigree

The latest editions of the Battlefield franchise have been deemed underwhelming by its players and fans, to say the least. But even just weeks after Battlefield 2042 players threatened to boycott the struggling game, it’s clear that EA still has plans for the franchise, naming Ridgeline Games as a studio dedicated to “developing a narrative campaign set in the Battlefield universe.” 

If you’ve never heard of Ridgeline Games, well, that’s because it’s a new studio that EA just opened. The studio is led by Marcus Lehto, who worked at Bungie for more than a decade and is billed as one of Halo’s co-creators. EA will undoubtedly be hoping that Lehto’s experience in creating one of the most influential games ever made will help fish the floundering Battlefield franchise out of its troubled waters and bring it back to a place where it can compete with titles like Call of Duty.

Elsewhere, Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella will continue to lead the group of studios in charge of making Battlefield, with studios like DICE and Ripple Effect continuing to provide support for Battlefield 2042 and create new games in the Battlefield world. All of this seems part of the plan to establish a “connected Battlefield universe,” spanning multiple games and, importantly, game genres.

That’s where it seems Ridgeline Games will come in. It’s unclear if a “narrative campaign” means that there will be a fully new narrative-based game coming to the Battlefield universe or if the next Battlefield title will simply contain a more standard campaign mode alongside the extensive multiplayer experience the games are known for. It does seem that the studio will clearly be trying some different things with the franchise.

However that shakes out, it seems clear that the Zampella-led project to create this Battlefield universe is going to have to fight to win fans back after the poor reception Battlefield 2042 received. The game’s player count tanked months into its release, and while there were upticks in the player base for the release of 2042’s first two seasons recently, the game hasn’t come close to reaching the popularity it saw upon release. 

No pressure, Ridgeline Games.