Ripple Effect Studios’ Battlefield Game is a Free-to-Play Battle Royale Title – Rumour

It’s been a turbulent few years for the Battlefield franchise, and recent developments haven’t made things any smoother. Last month, it was announced that Marcus Lehto – general manager of Ridgeline Games, a studio formed to develop narrative-driven Battlefield campaigns – had left EA, and shortly afterward, it emerged that amidst EA’s mass layoffs, Ridgeline Games had been shuttered entirely.

The PS5 Pro has been in the rumour mill for over a year at this point, and though official word from Sony regarding a mid-gen refresh of its console has been nonexistence, the console’s specs have been aggressively leaked in recent months. Now, more details have emerged on that front.

Ex-Battlefield director Marcus Lehto doesn't «have anything positive to say about EA» after the publisher shut down his Ridgeline Games studio shortly after his resignation. The Ridgeline founder and Halo co-creator was previously working on Battlefield's next singleplayer project.

Marcus Lehto – co-creator of the Halo universe and former lead of the recently shuttered Ridgeline Games – says he doesn't have «anything positive to say about EA».

Battlefield 2042 has revealed Season 7, which starts on March 19. It's been a long journey for Battlefield 2042 since its bumpy launch, which made it one of the most frustrating games of 2021. Entering its fourth year, DICE continues to support Battlefield 2042 through updates with new content, modes, and improvements.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint was a bit of a dumpster fire, and Ghost Recon Frontline got cancelled in response to widespread backlash against its core premise, so the last few years have definitely been rough for the Ghost Recon franchise. Even so, though a new game hasn’t yet been officially announced, it seems safe to assume, given the magnitude of the franchise, that Ubisoft does have plans for a new game in the series. Now, a report published by Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson has shed light on alleged details about that next instalment.

Former EA and Microsoft exec, Peter Moore, says there are «serious questions» to be asked about video game hardware and whether or not there's a future for the traditional home console system.

Look for Apex Legends to begin to expand past just the traditional battle royale format in the coming year as part of an overall plan to grow the community and evolve the IP. 

Ubisoft hasn’t yet revealed too many official details on Assassin’s Creed Codename Red (including a final title), the next mainline series in the company’s flagship franchise, though new information on the title continues to emerge through leaks. A new report published by Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson has shed further light on the game.

As part of its mass layoffs, Electronic Arts is shuttering studios and cancelling projects, though blessedly, there have been parts of the company that have managed to escape the chopping block. BioWare, for instance, is continuing its work on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and the next Mass Effect game– and the former is allegedly set to release sometime this year itself.

The recent layoffs at Electronic Arts may have put the future of some upcoming projects in question, but fans can rest assured that Mass Effect 5 is still being worked on at BioWare. There has been a growing number of layoffs in the gaming industry over the past year or so, with Mass Effect 5 developer BioWare cutting part of the Star Wars: The Old Republic team back in June. This hasn’t slowed down in 2024, with a reported total of over 8,000 job losses in just the past couple of months alone.

EA's closure of Ridgeline Games last night was a «gut punch», the company's former boss Marcus Lehto has now said.