There is, presumably, now a crisis of identity at the studio that was formed to take the Halo baton from Bungie after it split with Microsoft, but that never quite succeeded in emerging from that studio’s shadow. Multiplayer creative director Tom French left in December 2022, studio founder and head Bonnie Ross left in September, and design head Jerry Hook left in May.įollowing the perceived failure of Infinite and its troubled development, it’s disheartening but not surprising to find 343 Industries at the forefront of the layoffs among Microsoft’s game development studios.
#343 new halo game series
However, Staten’s exit follows a series of recent departures of senior staff that predated the layoffs. Staten, who worked on all the original Halo games at Bungie, was brought on during the later stages of Halo Infinite as the project lead for its campaign, reportedly to help get the game “back on track.” Although the news of his departure is unfortunately timed, it may be that he never intended to stay at 343 Industries long-term - 343’s original confirmation that Staten would be joining the team said he would “be returning home to Halo for a bit.” (This statement is no longer hosted on the Halo Waypoint website.) Xbox Games Studios boss Matt Booty recently admitted to the game “stumbling at the finish line” and said that its live service plan “fell short.”
Halo Infinite faced a troubled, delayed development, a shaky launch with some features missing, and an uncertain post-launch period that have all severely dented 343 Industries’ reputation. “Between the contracting policies they abuse for tax incentives & layoffs in the face of gigantic profits/executive bonuses. “As a Halo fan I’m really tired of Microsoft business practices & policies slowly killing the thing I love,” said Tyler Owens, a former Halo 5 developer now working on Apex Legends at Respawn. So many amazing people and talent that just disappeared,” agreed Wren. “The contract stuff is a whole other can of worms that pisses me off. “Don’t forget the heavy reliance on contractors/vendors and that messed up system (though I know that’s more MS),” said former Halo Infinite developer Nicholas Bird. Schreier said that he’d heard versions of Wren’s complaints “from many other Halo developers.”Īnother theme in the complaints about the management of 343 Industries was a heavy reliance on short-term contractors, a policy which some said came from the mothership at Microsoft. Wren later said, “I do want to make sure that I call out how amazing the Multiplayer Leadership team was during development,” seemingly laying the blame at the door of senior management, Microsoft, and the leaders responsible for Halo Infinite’s campaign. “Devs still there are working hard on that dream. They helped push for a better Halo and got laid off for it,” Wren added.
“The people I worked every day with were passionate about Halo and wanted to make something great for the fans. The reason for both of those things is incompetent leadership up top during Halo Infinite development causing massive stress on those working hard to make Halo the best it can be,” he tweeted.
“The layoffs at 343 shouldn’t have happened and Halo Infinite should be in a better state. Patrick Wren, a former senior multiplayer designer on Halo Infinite now working on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor at Respawn, did not mince his words. In another worrying sign for the future of the studio and the Halo series, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported that Halo veteran Joseph Staten was leaving 343 after less than three years to rejoin the publishing team at Xbox. Management at Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries has come under fire from former staffers after the studio was reportedly “hit hard” by Wednesday’s large-scale layoffs at Microsoft.
0 kommentar(er)
