Head of Creative for Halo Infinite is leaving 343 to join Xbox Publishing

Draugoth

Draugoth

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Joe Staten, who joined 343 in 2020 to steer Halo Infinite toward the finish line, is leaving the studio to rejoin Xbox Publishing, Bloomberg has learned
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It sounds like 343's Halo Infinite campaign team got hit hard. In an email to staff, studio head Pierre Hintze wrote that "we've made the difficult decision to restructure elements of our team, which means some roles are being eliminated."
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Is this good or bad? Comments are saying 343 is dead but I doubt that.

No clue what the guy will do at Xbox publishing besides being another cog in the wheel.
 
Honestly, it's going to take a young person to revitalize Halo. Someone who understands the modern market and knows where we're headed. I'm not confident Joseph Staten was the guy for the job.
 
Lmao. Wasnt he brought in to get Halo back on track?

What does this mean? Is 343 done?

MS did say they were laying off 10,000 people today.
 
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bentanchorbolt said:
How do you figure?
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He was the one being praised for getting halo back on track and now he's leaving on top of a bunch of other departures and layoffs. I mean Halo is already not that popular, its not even in the top 20 on xbox most played right now.

I assume once they get activision Halo is going to take a long deep nap
 
Kacho said:
How so?
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He was the one responsible for helping to release Halo Infinite (in the current state) and helping it from being a broken mess at launch, if he's jumping off ship, then there's probably no hope for the game.
 
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Men_in_Boxes said:
Honestly, it's going to take a young person to revitalize Halo. Someone who understands the modern market and knows where we're headed. I'm not confident Joseph Staten was the guy for the job.
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If they released a polished game with a clear path towards DLC and updates in a timely manner, it would still be a top game. The launch was nearly record breaking. But their lack of focus by updates and content dropping slowly and with big gaps ultimately undid all that early success they had.
 
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This
Hump1stPersonView.gif

Plus this
Halo-Morning-Coffee.jpg
 
Men_in_Boxes said:
Honestly, it's going to take a young person to revitalize Halo. Someone who understands the modern market and knows where we're headed. I'm not confident Joseph Staten was the guy for the job.
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That is an interesting debate topic. I could argue that you are 100% correct as long as the word market is not replaced with audience. I could also argue that it is the same type of thinking that doomed quite a few entertainment endeavors, because abandoning the core leads to no one being happy.
 
bentanchorbolt said:
So him leaving alone with no other info whatsoever has lead you to this conclusion?
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It is a canary in a coal mine. My guess is if they still keep the Halo IP, 343i gets dissolved or kept on for managing parts of franchise and brand, but game development goes to new studios with proven track records, possibly studios at Activision if the deal goes through.
 
bentanchorbolt said:
If the released a polished game with a clear path towards DLC and updates in a timely manner, it would still be a top game. The launch was nearly record breaking. But their lack of focus by updates and content dropping slowly and with big gaps ultimately undid all that early success they had.
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Halo crashed and burned because the gameplay loop was extremely repetitive, overly simplistic, and stale. The player base started jettisoning a huge percentage of players right after the first weekend.

It had nothing to do with DLC and quick updates.
 
RIP Halo.
The only hope now is for Halo Season 2 TV series, granted no more Master Cheeks, they kill off Kwan Ha and there are 90% more action scenes.
 
bentanchorbolt said:
If the released a polished game with a clear path towards DLC and updates in a timely manner, it would still be a top game. The launch was nearly record breaking. But their lack of focus by updates and content dropping slowly and with big gaps ultimately undid all that early success they had.
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All the big studios wanted their big franchises to follow popular trends created by Fortnite. The Battle Pass system killed Halo and Overwatch
 
VAVA Mk2 said:
Joe Staten was the last credible person to steer the ship. He was largely in charge of narrative for Halo when he was at Bungie and they still had the franchise. Halo is effectively dead.
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Draugoth said:
He was the one responsible for helping to release Halo Infinite (in the current state) and helping it from being a broken mess at launch, if he's jumping off ship, then there's probably no hope for the game.
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Gotcha. I remember the hype when he joined 343, but considering how the game turned out and the state of 343 in general I'm indifferent about this news. Guessing his heart isn't in it anymore.
 
Men_in_Boxes said:
Honestly, it's going to take a young person to revitalize Halo. Someone who understands the modern market and knows where we're headed. I'm not confident Joseph Staten was the guy for the job.
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The thing is that Staten was mainly responsible for lore and story rather than modern market. Though new head of 343 is a really good guy who fixed Halo MCC.
 
Men_in_Boxes said:
Halo crashed and burned because the gameplay loop was extremely repetitive, overly simplistic, and stale. The player base started jettisoning a huge percentage of players right after the first weekend.

It had nothing to do with DLC and quick updates.
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Strange then how 343i was getting roasted for taking xmas break instead of working on updates to fix broken aspects of the game, but hey, I guess you're right about it having nothing to do with it.
 
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Draugoth said:
All the big studios wanted their big franchises to follow popular trends created by Fortnite. The Battle Pass system killed Halo and Overwatch
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You aren't wrong but I suspect it had far more to do with all the bugs that weren't getting fixed and the lack of new content. The devs kept promising bug fixes that didn't come in a timely manner and promising new content that kept getting delayed over and over. This wasn't that long ago.
 
NickFire said:
That is an interesting debate topic. I could argue that you are 100% correct as long as the word market is not replaced with audience. I could also argue that it is the same type of thinking that doomed quite a few entertainment endeavors, because abandoning the core leads to no one being happy.
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If you look at gaming with a 50 year lense, you'll see disruptive game design wreaks havoc on games that stick too close to the core formula.

Halo multiplayer will never succeed if it adheres to a formula (arena shooter) that has been ridiculously unsuccessful on the modern market. Go open world or get left behind.

bentanchorbolt said:
Strange then how 343i was getting roasted for taking xmas break instead of working on updates to fix broken aspects of the game, but hey, I guess you're right about it having nothing to do with it.
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I don't put much stock into internet roasting. Most gamers can't identify the reasons they like the games they do.
 
So the creative head of a failed studio is now going to join Xbox Publishing.

Yes, I have all the faith in the world.

What a poorly managed operation Xbox has become.

Legit think I could run it better.
 
Yeah. I think they've let 343 have enough of a chance. Clean house and give it someone else. Let master chief have a rest for a bit. Come back with a blast.
 
Men_in_Boxes said:
I don't put much stock into internet roasting. Most gamers can't identify the reasons they like the games they do.
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When an exceptional amount of people complain about the same things, articles are written about it, and the devs take time to discuss it, usually means its an issue regardless.
 
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Draugoth said:
He was the one responsible for helping to release Halo Infinite (in the current state) and helping it from being a broken mess at launch, if he's jumping off ship, then there's probably no hope for the game.
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I'm sure they are transitioning into shutting down all future development. My guess is season 4 will be the last season.
 
remember_spinal said:
https://lordsofgaming.net/2023/01/report-massive-layoffs-hit-343-industries/
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Please tell me there's a more credible source here or someone trustworthy who can corroborate it

According to sources who spoke to Lords of Gaming on the condition of anonymity, significant layoffs were announced today at 343 Industries.
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According to our source, at least 60 people at 343 Industries have been laid off this morning from the Redmond, Washington-based developer. This is a significant portion of the workforce which at its peak employed over 450 people. The layoffs are said to be across the company. However, they are heaviest towards individuals working on the single-player side of the studio.
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Lords of Gaming
Ducks Laughing GIF
 
Kacho said:
... No clue what the guy will do at Xbox publishing besides being another cog in the wheel.
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Staten has worked in Xbox Publishing before. He's basically been Microsoft's fixer for a while now, usually brought in to make the toughest decisions. He wasn't brought into 343i because he had history with Halo, that was largely coincidence. 343i couldn't ship a fucking game, so Staten came in and got it shipped for better or for worse. He's a closer, and he closed. Job done, time to go.
Represent. said:
So the creative head of a failed studio is now going to join Xbox Publishing...
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See above.

As for the layoffs, 343i is Microsoft's largest studio. They're also their worst studio, with the worst output by a wide margin. If any company in Microsoft's stable needed a cull, it's this one. How they can be this large, take this long to make games, and deliver quality this low is shocking. Their CEO was fired for a reason. This feels like house cleaning, because clearly, people aren't doing their jobs.
 
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bentanchorbolt said:
When an exceptional amount of people complain about the same things, articles are written about it, and the devs take time to discuss it, usually means its an issue regardless.
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What is "an exceptional amount"? 50 people? 500 people? 5,000 people?

Are you sure it's not just a very loud, very small minority?

Here's how we'll know I'm right and we'll know you're wrong. Halo multiplayer will never be arena based ever again. From this day on, it'll be giant open world multiplayer because that's the reason Halo failed, not the DLC pipeline that 20 people like to bring up.
 
Men_in_Boxes said:
What is "an exceptional amount"? 50 people? 500 people? 5,000 people?

Are you sure it's not just a very loud, very small minority?

Here's how we'll know I'm right and we'll know you're wrong. Halo multiplayer will never be arena based ever again. From this day on, it'll be giant open world multiplayer because that's the reason Halo failed, not the DLC pipeline that 20 people like to bring up.
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We don't need to argue about this. I made my points, these issues were already discussed as nauseum on these forums and other spaces. The idea that lack of bug fixes and continual delays had nothing to do with the death of Halo Inf MP is laughable at the point. Enjoy your day.
 
bentanchorbolt said:
We don't need to argue about this. I made my points, these issues were already discussed as nauseum on these forums and other spaces. The idea that lack of bug fixes and continual delays had nothing to do with the death of Halo Inf MP is laughable at the point. Enjoy your day.
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Halo Infinite launched with waaaaay more polish and had waaaaay more content than PUBG.

Gameplay is what matters. Always has.
 
It's strange but not surprising to see some of the same people who were calling for 343i to be shuttered only a few months ago now feign concern for those who are affected by these layoffs.
 
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