Following Battlefield 6’s release, Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto publicly criticized the game’s credits, saying he and multiple former colleagues were not properly acknowledged despite Ridgeline Games spending years laying the campaign’s foundation. EA founded Ridgeline in late 2021, ramped up hiring in 2022, then shuttered the studio shortly after Lehto’s February 2024 departure, reallocating staff to Ripple Effect. Even as Battlefield 6 posts franchise-record sales and Steam concurrency, the debate over who gets named—and how—has reignited across the industry.

In a LinkedIn post, Lehto wrote that many ex-Ridgeline devs were relegated to a “Special Thanks” card or omitted entirely, even though they “worked tirelessly for one to two and a half years, building the foundation of the game.” He attached an image listing names and roles as he believed they should have appeared in the credits.

Ridgeline was established by EA in October 2021 with Lehto as game director to focus on FPS initiatives. Hiring kicked off in July 2022 for a future Battlefield single-player campaign. Lehto left EA in February 2024, stating it was his own decision; a week later, EA closed Ridgeline, and portions of the team transitioned to Ripple Effect, the studio overseeing Battlefield’s multiplayer.

Meanwhile, performance milestones mounted: EA said Battlefield 6 delivered the biggest launch in franchise history with more than seven million copies sold in the first three days and achieved the publisher’s highest ever concurrent player peak on Steam—surpassing Apex Legends.

For Lehto, proper attribution is non-negotiable: “Game development is a team effort, and every contributor deserves fair acknowledgment.”

Source: VGC, LinkedIn, EA Press, VGC – Steam Record