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After layoffs at Microsoft: The future of "Halo" is uncertain

23.1.2023

Translation: machine translated

The Halo development studio 343 Industries has been hit by the wave of redundancies at Microsoft. According to rumours, the sci-fi franchise will be further developed by other studios in future.

Microsoft is laying off over 10,000 employees. This also affects the Xbox Game Studios - specifically: The Coalition ("Gears of War"), Bethesda ("Fallout", "The Elder Scrolls", "Starfield") and 343 Industries ("Halo").

What's next for "Halo"?

What impact the job cuts will have on game development is still unclear. Halo leaker and industry insider Bathrobe Spartan claims in a detailed Twitter thread that 343 Industries will be hit particularly hard by the redundancies - a third of the workforce will be affected. From now on, the studio will no longer develop Halo games, but will only coordinate the development of future games with external studios and further develop the in-house Slipspace Engine. In addition, the planned single-player DLC for "Halo Infinite" has reportedly been completely scrapped.

Shortly after the insider information was published, Pierre Hintze, Studio Head of 343 Industries, spoke out via the official Halo Twitter account:

"Halo and Master Chief are here to stay. 343 Industries will continue to develop Halo now and in the future, including epic stories, multiplayer and more of what makes Halo great."

The vaguely worded message confirms that 343 Industries is still working on Halo games - or at least: "Halo Infinite" - will be (co-)working on. Whether and to what extent external studios will also be involved in the development of future games remains open with this statement. It also remains unclear how hard the studio has really been hit by the wave of redundancies and whether the story DLC for "Halo Infinite" is still planned.

The many problems of 343 Industries

In addition to the mass redundancies and rumours about the future of "Halo", 343 Industries is currently struggling with a number of high-ranking redundancies. In recent months, Bonnie Ross, former studio head of 343 Industries, Joseph Staten, long-time Halo director and author, and Patrick Wren, multiplayer designer of "Halo Infinite", among others, have left the company. The latter spoke out about the current events on Twitter - he accuses the studio bosses of "incompetent management", which is said to have led to massive pressure on employees and the redundancies.

343 Industries took over the Halo franchise from Bungie in 2007. The development studio is controversial among Halo fans. The team has made itself unpopular with mediocre sequels and technical fiascos such as the "Master Chief Collection".

The development of the current game "Halo Infinite" has also been turbulent. After a disastrous and graphically unimpressive gameplay presentation at E3 2020, the game was postponed shortly before launch. However, the new, ambitious open-world concept for the single-player campaign could not be fully realised even after the postponement. Announced features such as the split-screen co-op mode were completely cancelled. The online mode of "Halo Infinite" is also currently suffering from a lack of new content and updates, resulting in a constantly decreasing number of players.

Hardcore Halo fans have therefore been calling for fundamental changes and new development studios for the Halo franchise for some time. Even after Pierre Hintze's tweet, they have not given up hope.

Youtuber Crowbcat summarises in the following video why Halo fans are dissatisfied with the performance of 343 Industries:

Cover photo: Microsoft

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Domagoj Belancic

Senior Editor

Domagoj.Belancic@digitecgalaxus.ch

My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.

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