EA Engages Halo Contributor To Create New Studio Focused On First Person Games
In short: EA’s flagship franchise has always been Battlefield, but it looks like the publisher wants to update their shooter roster with something fresh. To bring this mysterious project (or projects) to life, EA hired former Halo creative director and co-creator Marcus Lehto to lead a new, as-yet-to-be-named studio.
The studio will be built in Seattle and will specialize in first-person games. This does not mean explicitly in the first person arrowsbut it’s hard to think of any other reason for EA to chase Lehto – after all, what is his experience. If they were trying to create a competitor to Skyrim, they’d be better off recruiting talent from a pool of former Bethesda or Obsidian employees.
As for Lehto’s story in particular, as we noted a moment ago, he was on the Halo team when the first game, Halo: Combat Evolved, first came out. He started out as a designer and rose to the highest ranks at Bungie. He had a hand in almost every Halo game released, except for 4 and 5, which were 343’s work.
Hello everyone, I am very happy to announce that I have joined @EA as Game Director, building a new studio in the Seattle area working on first-person games. I can’t wait to tell you more about what we create! pic.twitter.com/GnfVFNLSaW
– Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) October 19, 2021
Lehto himself confirmed the news in a tweet on Wednesday. “Hi everyone, I am very pleased to announce that I have joined @EA as Game Director, setting up a new studio in the Seattle area and working on first-person games,” he announced. “I can’t wait to tell you more about what we create!”
We are sure that Lehto is not the only one who cannot wait. It’s been a long time since EA unveiled a new first-person franchise, and no doubt millions of people will happily take advantage of it.
Of course, we don’t know much about the show yet (Lehto mentions “games”). If it’s a shooter, will it be single or multiplayer? If it’s multiplayer, will it be competitive or cooperative? And if this is not a shooter, what could it be on Earth? We don’t know, but we look forward to it.
