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Earlier this week, Battlefield director (and former Halo co-creator) Marcus Lehto made an abrupt departure from Ridgeline Games, and while it wasn't entirely clear what was going on behind the scenes at the time, EA has now confirmed mass layoffs.
As part of this, EA has announced the closure of this studio. As previously noted, Lehto was at the helm of this studio which was working on a new single-player installment in the Battlefield series. Some of the developers at Ridgeline will reportedly be folded into the fellow Battlefield developer Ripple Effect.
According to IGN, Danny Isaac and Darren White at Criterion Games will now oversee the single-player work on the series. Along with the closure of Ridgeline and the cancellation of a Star Wars FPS, EA is also sunsetting multiple mobile games including The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth which has been out for less than a year.
What are your thoughts about this? Tell us in the comments.
[source ign.com]
Comments 7
Gaming is heading toward to a huge crash. Every day there are more layoffs. Sony is in deeper trouble than anyone actually seems prepared to accept and we are heading for an 80’s style implosion.
It’s no longer sustainable.
If people aren’t deeply concerned then they need to get their heads of the sand very quickly indeed.
wow xbox will outlast playstation. but i still fear for all those 2024 games with no release date.
Industry crash happening before our very eyes. At least we have indies.
I don't think gaming is going through a Crisis because these 'big' publishers with 'bloated' expectations and 'easy money making' ideas haven't exactly panned out for them.
MS I can understand some 'consolidation' with their Acquisitions -you don't need 3 different Publishing departments (MS, Bethesda and ABK) each with its own Marketing teams etc - that can be 'consolidated' into one.
I look at EA for example who over promised, under delivered. Look at BF2042 as an example - a game very light on content so probably didn't sell well at $70 yet they still had to keep ploughing money into it to get it to a playable state but now the game is basically free.
When I look at Sony for example, they seemed to put their 'eggs' into Live Service games - much to their Gamers dismay. Of those '10 or so they had in active development, several are not going to see the light of day (it seems) - Last of Us Factions, Twisted Metal and some Fantasy co-op game cancelled.
When I look around at AAA publishers, Many of them have put prices up, going for 'Live Service' based games or generic sequels, remakes/remasters and often releasing broken messes of games at release - Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad, Skull n Bones etc
All while Indies and Sub Services are offering a 'plethora' of options that many gamers would prefer to play than waste $70 on a broken AAA game that demands you spend more money on Cosmetics, on in game currency, on season passes etc etc. Why would I buy some generic bland game when I can play many others for FREE on PS+/Game Pass and with modern Consoles supporting BC, we have thousands of games on sale. I'd rather buy 4+ older (XB1 era) games in sale than just 1 new $70 game I can't really enjoy until its patched and/or complete on content...
I think its a shame that people are losing jobs, but I also think some Publishers have created their own problems by pushing Devs to make 'generic' Live Service games wrapped in their IP skin designed for selling cosmetic outfits for $10+ each, but the game-play is dull, repetitive and very generic - instead of letting them create 'great' games people want to play so will 'sell' if they are given time to ensure they aren't broken at launch.
I see so many games releasing and many studio's really making a name for themselves. Plague Tale by Asobo for example or PalWorld is blowing up right now.
Ok, while all these news aren't good, I can deal with that.
Battlefield is a ***** series in my opinion, which I absolutely don't need and that's not different with Battlefield campaigns.
@BaldBelper78
If people aren’t deeply concerned then they need to get their heads of the sand very quickly indeed
I find it very hard to be concerned about an industry that has the average cost of AAA games development pushing past $150-200 million (regularly) then complaining that it's not sustainable. Perhaps it's time for a new approach to how games are made... 🤔.
Removed - inappropriate
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