Support NeoGAF

[Draugoth]

343 Industries is looking for a lead game designer to help define future Halo experiences and build the next generation of games and experiences in the Halo universe. This was posted by Microsoft today, and the hiring freeze ended at least 9 days ago when an art outsource manager position was posted.

It seems like 343 is finally out of its hiring freeze. Their linkedin number has jumped by 50 people in the past couple of weeks.

Recently, the studio started a new hiring process, advertising vacancies for Game Designer Lead and Arts Outsourcing Manager. This move has led to speculation about a complete restructuring at the studio, which will continue to be in charge of the next iterations of the franchise.

 

[Bernkastel]

I hope Tatanka is successful and they consider giving the reigns to Certain Affinity.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

I hope Tatanka is successful and they consider giving the reigns to Certain Affinity.

Max Hoberman knows Halo.

 

[T_T]

LinkedIn numbers are severely overbloated. Unless they hired every person that knocked on the door, they wouldn't bring in 50 people in a couple of weeks.

 

[Calling 911 Melts Beams]

they should hire shigeru miyamoto to rename halo infinite to metroid prime 4 so that people will play it

 

[stickkidsam]

Fingers crossed they drop Infinite and create a new game. If Halo is gonna die, it would wanna go out with a bang.

 

[R6Rider]

they should hire shigeru miyamoto to rename halo infinite to metroid prime 4 so that people will play it

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Fingers crossed they drop Infinite and create a new game. If Halo is gonna die, it would wanna go out with a bang.

Would be nice to see one Halo game on Unreal Engine 5 and see a graphical showstopper.

 

[stickkidsam]

Would be nice to see one Halo game on Unreal Engine 5 and see a graphical showstopper.

I want to see that high fidelity blue lady booty.

 

[REDRZA MWS]

343 Industries is looking for a lead game designer to help define future Halo experiences and build the next generation of games and experiences in the Halo universe. This was posted by Microsoft today, and the hiring freeze ended at least 9 days ago when an art outsource manager position was posted.





Recently, the studio started a new hiring process, advertising vacancies for Game Designer Lead and Arts Outsourcing Manager. This move has led to speculation about a complete restructuring at the studio, which will continue to be in charge of the next iterations of the franchise.

I pray Certain Affinity is working on a Halo Wars 3 behind the scenes.

 

[TVexperto]

isnt there a law where they have to offer laid off people their job back?

 

[kiphalfton]

I hope Tatanka is successful and they consider giving the reigns to Certain Affinity.

Not sure why people keep saying this.

It would be stupid to hand over the reigns for a multi-billion dollar franchise to a support studio.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

isnt there a law where they have to offer laid off people their job back?

There is in europe, or at least France. But if I understand it right the marker is fluid enough in the USA that most of those people have already found something since. Or at least I hope so.

 

[Pagusas]

So the "layoffs" were really just a way to politely throw out the trash and fire the dead weight while planning for the future. Now they can actually bring in good qualified talent?

 

[DeepEnigma]

Is this the 18 month contractor cycle MS is notorious for?

 

[Riky]

Good news, new season is great and there is a substantial amount of good content now.

Wish we could get some single player expansions as it was excellent but I guess that's not going to happen

 

[kaizenkko]

I imagine if there's a dev who would actually want to join this company.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Not sure why people keep saying this.

It would be stupid to hand over the reigns for a multi-billion dollar franchise to a support studio.

It's 343i...they have proven they are a support studio.

 

[kiphalfton]

It's 343i...they have proven they are a support studio.

I'm not inferring 343i shouldn't hand it over at all; I'm saying they shouldn't hand it over to a support studio.

It will just be a repeat of 343i if it isn't handed over to a more competent/experienced dev group.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Out with old. In with the new.

 

[AJUMP23]

hold onto your butts.

 

[Connificent]

 

[93xfan]

Hate to say it but who wants to work there? How will they attract talent?

 

[Del_X]

Tech layoffs have stalled and companies are hiring again - not just in video games. This felt like a controlled burn in many corners of software.

 

[Bry0]

I'm not inferring 343i shouldn't hand it over at all; I'm saying they shouldn't hand it over to a support studio.

It will just be a repeat of 343i if it isn't handed over to a more competent/experienced dev group.

a little presumptuous to say that imo.

 

[Bernkastel]

Not sure why people keep saying this.

It would be stupid to hand over the reigns for a multi-billion dollar franchise to a support studio.

Max Hoberman is the father of Halo's multiplayer. He knows more about Game Design then 343.

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/xbox-is-making-a-monster-hunter-style-co-op-game-with-certain-affinity.1628824/

Also, they have had many high profile hires recently

Certain Affinity welcomes industry leader, Paul Sams, as President & COO - Certain Affinity

Veteran Industry Executive Paul Sams Joins Certain Affinity to Spearhead Their Growth Former CEO at Ready At Dawn Studios® and COO at Blizzard Entertainment® to strengthen the Austin and Toronto-based independent AAA game development studio. September 15, 2022 – Austin – Certain Affinity®...

www.certainaffinity.com

Why Blizzard veteran Paul Sams took the COO job at Certain Affinity

Blizzard veteran Paul Sams took the president and COO job at Certain Affinity. We talked to him about what comes next.

venturebeat.com

 

[intbal]

They got rid of Bonnie Ross.
Now they can go back to hiring people based on merit rather than identity.

 

[Timberwolf25]

They had to get rid of the virtue signal hire dead weights and are now finally hiring people actually talented in making video games.

It's been slow going, but the game has improved since the fire/retirement of Bonnie Ross. I'm sure she is very talented and smart, but running 343i wasn't a good fit for her.

 

[gothmog]

Linkedin numbers are going up because they just started verifying employment via email. It's not hiring alone that is making the numbers go up.

 

[stickkidsam]

Good news, new season is great and there is a substantial amount of good content now.

Wish we could get some single player expansions as it was excellent but I guess that's not going to happen

I mean… it's still Infinite; which hey if you just wanted more maps and armor then cool. If like me ya dislike the base gameplay and lack of legacy features though, it's not really gonna be much better.

 

[FireFly]

They had to get rid of the virtue signal hire dead weights and are now finally hiring people actually talented in making video games.

It's been slow going, but the game has improved since the fire/retirement of Bonnie Ross. I'm sure she is very talented and smart, but running 343i wasn't a good fit for her.

The rumours point to the campaign team being fired and the multiplayer team being kept intact.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

They had to get rid of the virtue signal hire dead weights and are now finally hiring people actually talented in making video games.

It's been slow going, but the game has improved since the fire/retirement of Bonnie Ross. I'm sure she is very talented and smart, but running 343i wasn't a good fit for her.

Bonnie Ross was clearly anything but competent. She took the crown jewel of XBox and let it degrade to shit while she focused on other pursuits as a studio head. She should have to give any awards she got back as she let a top franchise in the industry die during her "watch."

 

[vpance]

They got rid of Bonnie Ross.
Now they can go back to hiring people based on merit rather than identity.

 

[Rush2112]

Ironic that the Halo game titled "infinite" is the one that died the quickest. Does 343 understand irony?

 

[Phase]

Before hiring you must test their skill in a Halo game of their choosing. If they suck, no hire.

 

[Phase]

Ironic that the Halo game titled "infinite" is the one that died the quickest. Does 343 understand irony?

They did name their company after a character that betrayed Chief.

 

[CatLady]

Good news, new season is great and there is a substantial amount of good content now.

Wish we could get some single player expansions as it was excellent but I guess that's not going to happen

I definitely want more story content. The campaign was great.

 

[intbal]

Bonnie Ross - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Jibran#one]

343 is just a shit studio what they did to halo is blasphemy

 

[Codes 208]

Good news, new season is great and there is a substantial amount of good content now.

Wish we could get some single player expansions as it was excellent but I guess that's not going to happen

Keyword here is now. Its fucking atrocious that its been taking them a year or longer to add basic shit like co-op, forge or even a mode like infection.

And whats worse is we're still missing some substantial modes. Wheres grifball? Action sack? Firefight? Plus the modes with community made maps are rotationary.

Plus its only taken til now to finally add cross-core armor pieces and skins? Its like theyre trying to milk the whales for everything theyve got while they still can.

Halo 5 had an absolute disaster of a campaign, but id sooner take that whole package than what we currently have with infinite. 1.5 years in and it still makes me rather want to play destiny 2 of all things. Cause at least we know where the talent went when bungie left

 

[Jibran#one]

U can't expect to launch a bare one games add coop after 1 year forge after 1 year and call it a great game
Release the fucking game 1 year later than.
There is nothing special about halo or any FPS for the matter that people will stick around a year for basic features that should've been there day 1

 

[Shubh_C63]

Fingers crossed they drop Infinite and create a new game. If Halo is gonna die, it would wanna go out with a bang.

They have basically done that two times now. Always keeps starting from scratch.
I don't even wanna predict at this point. Will see in 2028 I guess.

 

[Riky]

Keyword here is now. Its fucking atrocious that its been taking them a year or longer to add basic shit like co-op, forge or even a mode like infection.

And whats worse is we're still missing some substantial modes. Wheres grifball? Action sack? Firefight? Plus the modes with community made maps are rotationary.

Plus its only taken til now to finally add cross-core armor pieces and skins? Its like theyre trying to milk the whales for everything theyve got while they still can.

Halo 5 had an absolute disaster of a campaign, but id sooner take that whole package than what we currently have with infinite. 1.5 years in and it still makes me rather want to play destiny 2 of all things. Cause at least we know where the talent went when bungie left

I think Firefight is on the way they say, I recently deleted Destiny 2 as the multiplayer is basically dead and Bungie aren't interested in it anymore. I'd take Infinite for PvP myself by quite a margin.

 

[stickkidsam]

They have basically done that two times now. Always keeps starting from scratch.
I don't even wanna predict at this point. Will see in 2028 I guess.

Third times the charm

Really though, why not? Unlike 4, 5, and Infinite thru have solid leadership now. Problems have always been heavily associated with management. Why then, with a fresh set of hands at the wheel, would we saddle them with this train wreck rather than a fresh start?

Hell, retcon the reclaimer saga as a fever dream. A premonition from an "oracle". Maybe even keep some of the ideas and give them another shot. Cortana's death and Chief's quest to revive her! Keep the Banished bustin butts! Hunt the truth 2 electric blue ball boogaloo anyone (now with actual truth)? Let's see ONI become a villain and see the outer colonies in turmoil!

Even if they kept the same story though, maybe we can at least get a game worth the hype ON LAUNCH DAY. Infinite is not gonna light any fires with that drip feed life support. A new game with NO free to play bullshit. NO missing features. ALL THE GAME MODES. An M FUCKIN RATING! Hell, let's bring back the Legendary edition! Since when was Halo not worth more than some digital skins and a steel case?

THAT would be one final effort this series deserves!

 

[Hudo]

343 is just a shit studio what they did to halo is blasphemy

True. But I also highly doubt that the Bungie of today could do any better. It seems that the Microsoft + Bungie era was the perfect storm of circumstances.

 

[simpatico]

Guys, it's gonna be different this time. I can feel it.

 

[MayauMiao]

Why would people with actual talent want to work with 343?

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Not sure why people keep saying this.

It would be stupid to hand over the reigns for a multi-billion dollar franchise to a support studio.

Isn't that what they would call a Promotion?

They have done amazing work in the past.

 

[Disco Dave]

If you have ever wiped your arse with anything Halo, this could be your foot in the door to the industry. 343i and the TV show both hired the wrong people for projects. No doubt this hiring spree will focus more on diversity rather than ability and result in another shit Halo project.



Diversity hiring results in divisive workplaces.

 

[Ulysses 31]

If you have ever wiped your arse with anything Halo, this could be your foot in the door to the industry...

Seems like a page out of Marvel's playbook

Marvel Studios Producer Nate Moore Explains Why They Avoid Writers Who Are Hardcore Comic Book Fans

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever producer Nate Moore has talked about why Marvel Studios avoids writers who are hardcore comic book fans, as they aren't looking for adaptations that are too faithful...

comicbookmovie.com

Marvel Studios Producer Nate Moore Explains Why They Avoid Writers Who Are Hardcore Comic Book Fans