The spectacular launch of the latest game in the Battlefield series was full of the usual fanfare, with explosions, massive player counts, and numbers that made the news. But beyond the smoke and mirrors is an uncomfortable truth: not everyone who contributed to developing this title felt like they were given their due credit.
Marcus Lehto, an experienced developer who says he and his former coworkers made a big contribution to the game’s campaign mode before being completely cut out of the credits, is at the core of the dispute.
What happened?
Electronic Arts (EA) hired Lehto in 2021 to start a new studio in Seattle called Ridgeline Games. Their job was to make the single-player campaign for Battlefield 6. Lehto is best recognized for his work on the Halo franchise.
Lehto departed the company on his own after about 1 to 2.5 years of employment. EA then closed Ridgeline as part of a studio restructure. When Battlefield 6 launched, Lehto posted to LinkedIn, stating:
“I’m disappointed to see that many of my former teammates from Ridgeline Games were not properly credited in the recent release of Battlefield 6. … Despite their significant contributions, most who were laid off were relegated to a ‘Special Thanks’ section at the very end of the credits—and several were omitted entirely, including myself.”
He included a list of names and roles that he says should have appeared in the credits.
Some of the names that were left out are Andres Naranjo, the lead character artist; Rohan Knuckey, the lead technical artist; and Jessica Moore and Dan Carr, the software developers.
The developer’s perspective
Lehto’s statement:
“Game development is a team effort, and every contributor deserves fair acknowledgment.”
He emphasised the foundations his team built during their tenure and expressed disappointment that those contributions were either hidden in a “Special Thanks” section or omitted altogether.
Lehto also took matters into his own hands, publishing his own credit roll listing the names and roles of the Ridgeline staff who worked on Battlefield 6.
The dispute between Marcus Lehto, his old Ridgeline team, and EA brings to light an important but often-overlooked component of making games: giving credit where it’s due. The circumstance shows that there are genuine people whose hard work deserves recognition, not just the product launches, the marketing, and the stats. It’s not clear if this incident will lead to a change in how credits are handled in the industry, but it does put more pressure on them.
Disclaimer: As of writing, EA hasn’t made any official statement regarding this matter. We’ll update this article with more up-to-date information as soon as they are available. The story is still developing.
