EA Shuts Down Ridgeline Games Studio

It still sounds to me like there was a major disagreement between the leadership at Ridgeline studio and EA.

I say this because Marcus Lehto resigned from EA before Ridgeline studio was shut down. Then Marcus reacts to the closure of the studio like he just found out about it and didn't know it was going to happen.

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@ATFGunr wrote:
@AdamonicAll the big tech / gaming companies are doing it. What do they know that we don’t? PlayStation just dumped a bunch of people too. PC gaming alone is worth billions, throw in consoles and we’re talking multi-billion dollar industry. Personally I think it’s all corporate greed and profiteering. They care nothing about their staff, I’m not convinced they care anything about their customers either. These are big companies and profit is all they care about. Good games means nothing. A crappy game that catches on and makes profit is preferred to a big game that tanks. I understand the mechanics of it, but margins mean more than anything to these companies.

 

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I have seen this first hand. EA needs to hit their margin projections for this quarter and the easiest way to do that is by cutting salaries, especially from groups that are currently not profitable. 

It's wild because all the corporate management structure gets big merit increases and stock options while they thin the minions. It's criminal really. I have no clue why anyone would willingly work for EA.

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@OskooI_007 wrote:

It still sounds to me like there was a major disagreement between the leadership at Ridgeline studio and EA.

I say this because Marcus Lehto resigned from EA before Ridgeline studio was shut down. Then Marcus reacts to the closure of the studio like he just found out about it and didn't know it was going to happen.

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Or he was waiting for the official announcement before stating anything publicly?

Either way this is such short sighted thinking but it's the new corporate mindset. They live quarter to quarter. How the CEO keeps his job is beyond me. Also, who is investing in EA? Talk about a bad one investment. With GTA coming out next year, EA is going to really struggle.

@Adamonic It doesn't make sense for Marcus to resign before the layoff.

Mixed feelings. Would have been curious to see what they came up with, but I don't see single player Battlefield as a good use of resources.  Given the option I'll always prefer another 3-4 MP maps over a single player campaign.

Battlefield will still have two other support studios with Ripple Effect and Criterion; sounds like Criterion is taking over the narrative responsibilities.

Employees will be fine. Microsoft, Amazon, Valve, Bungie, 343, Nintendo all within 15miles of Ridgeline.  

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@OskooI_007 wrote:
@AdamonicIt still doesn't make sense for Marcus to resign before the layoff.

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They treat guys at his level differently. They don't get laid off. They are moved to a new position, promoted, or they resign. 

We have entered an era where the entertainment industry is downsizing after it had grown way too large in the last 10-15 years while riding  one fad / bubble after the other.

Other than that, It is quite typical of big publishers to eventually "eat" studios under their control.

This is really sad news. I hope the people losing their jobs can find new ones easily.