Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto joins EA, starts new studio

Marcus Lehto, a former Bungie creative director has now joined Electronic Arts. He is opening a studio in Seattle. Lehto announced on Tuesday

Lehto was a key figure behind Halo and helped to create the series while at Bungie. Perhaps even more notably, Lehto is the primary artist responsible for Master Chief’s iconic design. Lehto also served as the Art Director for the Halo 3 games.

Lehto, who left Bungie 2012, founded V1 Interactive. He served as the company’s president until its closure last year. V1’s primary project had been a shooter called Disintegration, which never found critical or commercial success. At EA, Lehto will work as a game director overseeing and building the company’s new Seattle studio.

The studio doesn’t have any announced games or franchises just yet, but Lehto did share some hints about the future on Twitter. According to Lehto’s tweetThe studio will be focusing on first-person gaming, which makes perfect sense considering his experience at Bungie Interactive and V1 Interactive.