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[Lunatic_Gamer]

While there’s a lot that could be said about Halo not being as big as it once was, one ex-developer pins the blame on Microsoft itself and how it treats developers at 343. Former 343 QA Tester Briggs William Crane has spoken out about Microsoft’s contracting policies, which is something he attributes to the Halo franchise’s hardships. Commenting on a video by HiddenXperia titled “We Finally Know What Happened To Infinite’s Campaign, DLC, Story & More,” Crane points out that Microsoft’s policies in laying off contractual people as they are getting into their best work is what’s hampering the franchise. Not only that, the same person also points to this contractual employment as one main reason why Microsoft’s exclusives are seeing a “downturn in quality.”

Ex 343 Dev here. Now I work at Epic Games. Microsoft’s contracting policies are single handedly one of the biggest issues that Halo faces. Can you imagine how difficult it is to do your best work knowing that they’ll get rid of you in 18 months and there’s nothing you can do about it? Plus that forces people out the door just as they become fully trained and competent at their positions. All of this just so they can have the luxury of being able to easily lay off employees when it suits Microsoft execs. A SIGNIFICANT portion of 343’s workforce is comprised of contract workers (including the entirety of the old MCC team). The self inflicted brain drain is maddening to watch, and it’s (in my opinion) why most Microsoft exclusive titles are seeing a downturn in quality. They’ve created a business environment in which the talent they should be trying to cultivate is being pushed out the door and is then nabbed by other studios.

Briggs is now working full-time as a LiveQA Tester for Epic Games’ Fortnite according to his LinkedIn bio.

Report: Ex-343 QA Claims Microsoft Contracting Policies One of the Biggest Issues MS Exclusives Seeing a "Downturn in Quality" and Halo's Struggles

One former 343 Industries QA Tester blames Microsoft's contracting policies for the Halo franchise's hardships and MS' exclusives downturn in quality.

mp1st.com

 

[Thief1987]

We are all big family*!

*for 18 months only

 

[DanielG165]

They regularly contracted people to work on the infamously difficult and muddled Slipspace engine, a decision that will never not be baffling to me.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

It makes sense. I think going forward the best approach is to hire contractors from other states, while keeping the leadership in Washington.

 

[Three]

I've said this before, the underlying cause is the gamepass and GaaS model that promotes this temp employment strategy above permanent employment. They're feeding GP rather than striving for sales for the specific studio. since their services aren't required after they get the game done and MS try and minimise costs for GP they hire temps, this is what pushes profits for MS. MS are concentrating on IPs and content for gamepass and not so much on talented teams. Something else that benefits this temp employment model is you can delay without incurring costs from more employees. I've had a lengthy conversation about MS' "steady attrition" in this thread about a delay:

Yeah, they have incentives to delay games. Most of their studios operate mostly on timed contracts too so they minimise incurring costs from employees while they rake in GP money delaying these games.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I can 100% see this being true.

 

[Euler007]

We are all big family*!

*for 18 months only

Daddy's going out to get some milk!

 

[Kaiserstark]

It's an open secret in the industry that the Microsoft’s contracting policies are clearly hurting Xbox Studios.

 

[U n i o n 0015]

Same issue with Forza, as detailed in this video here:

 

[Insanemaelstrom]

Same issue with Forza, as detailed in this video here:

Was going to comment that "wasn't this already known", mistake halo for Forza. But yeah, contract workers never really work out.

Also, in that 18 month contract, first 1-2 months are spent in training and onboarding, getting upto speed with the systems, company preferences and settings( even naming system for files, functions, classes, etc), while last 2-3 months are spent looking for another job. You actually only work for around 13-16months, while thinking about how you aren't going to be rewarded for your hard work( you are getting the same salary as previously agreed with no chance of promotion or any other reward for hard work). I don't know how they expect any person to actually contribute their best in those conditions.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Remember when news about famous console franchises were only good? Whether it was xbox or sony, we were all excited for the next news? Nowadays its just "fuck these companies" news. They are no longer gaming companies. They're just sweat shops.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Games industry sounds like a shitshow. Who would sign up for working in this industry? If you’re really passionate about games you’re better off making an indie in your free time like Stardew Valley guy or Derek Yu. AAA industry is all blue hairs making cappuccinos and getting laid off.

 

[LordCBH]

I think we’ve known that for years. The way Microsoft handles its employment is fucking retarded. Isn’t it all because they just don’t wanna pay benefits or something? Worlds richest company is a cheap piece of shit when it comes to its employees.

 

[clarky]

I think we’ve known that for years. The way Microsoft handles its employment is fucking retarded. Isn’t it all because they just don’t wanna pay benefits or something? Worlds richest company is a cheap piece of shit when it comes to its employees.

This.

Not exactly rocket science.

 

[RoboFu]

Yeah a few of us have been guessing this for years now. Halo is such a big franchise that MS just over produced it with a multitude of consultants just milking it and never finishing anything.

 

[ZehDon]

This was known back before Infinite was delayed?

 

[DryvBy]

Daddy's going out to get some milk!

In this case, daddy asks his kids to get the milk while he drives the trailer away.

 

[MrRibeye]

GAF's very own revealed this 2 months ago:

Back then I reported the limit was 6 months, but yes indeed 18 months is also one.

I think I need to provide some insider perspective:

It is Microsoft policy that contract workers are limited to 6 month periods. So when 343 and The Coalition contract devs to work on Gears and Halo, they have to lay them off after 6 months. This is why on Gears 5 you had staff rotating in and out every 6 months.

Because the Xbox division is part of Microsoft, it has to follow this Microsoft umbrella-wide policy. I cannot confirm, but I suspect it is one reason why Xbox and Bethesda are happy to unionize employees, because it lets temporary contract workers stay longer and/or permanently.

Which is probably also why we got such news from Draugoth: Microsoft to Convert a Group of Subcontracted Temps to Unionized Employees

All these unionizations at Xbox could be a boss move to free themselves from Microsoft policies that aren't sensible to game development.

But I could also be wrong and it's just soyboy engineers unionizing to get free yoga and oat milk.

 

[ap_puff]

Games industry sounds like a shitshow. Who would sign up for working in this industry? If you’re really passionate about games you’re better off making an indie in your free time like Stardew Valley guy or Derek Yu. AAA industry is all blue hairs making cappuccinos and getting laid off.

Luckily for the game industry this isn't common practice.

 

[Topher]

GAF's very own revealed this 2 months ago:

Back then I reported the limit was 6 months, but yes indeed 18 months is also one.

Good grief. I'm a software developer, but not in gaming. I cannot fathom having to bring in new staff every 18 months. You are at the point where developers are actually hitting a stride and knocking out tasks at an efficient rate. Only to be shown the door when they start adding real value? I imagine there is some cost savings involved with this as folks want raises and such? Seems incredibly self-defeating for a $3 trillion corporation to be penny-pinching like this if that is what it is.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Good grief. I'm a software developer, but not in gaming. I cannot fathom having to bring in new staff every 18 months. You are at the point where developers are actually hitting a stride and knocking out tasks at an efficient rate. Only to be shown the door when they start adding real value? I imagine there is some cost savings involved with this as folks want raises and such? Seems incredibly self-defeating for a $3 trillion corporation to be penny-pinching like this if that is what it is.

It's probably just a situation where the policy works OK for everything else but gaming. MS is awful with that kind of thing when it comes to Xbox.

 

[PendekarRajawali]

 

[DeepEnigma]

It's probably just a situation where the policy works OK for everything else but gaming. MS is awful with that kind of thing when it comes to Xbox.

I would argue it doesn't work for everything else with all the service bulletins and issues their software has. Especially as it gets more and more complex over the past several decades.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Seems like a miracle that the games have been good outside of Redfall. Doesn’t seem like a smart way to develop games.

 

[StereoVsn]

We are all big family*!

*for 18 months only

It is really dumb on MS part as they lose institutional knowledge and long term the labor savings won’t account for lost revenue due to lost quality.

This shit also creeps up into the Enterprise space with constant mistakes in released code and shoddy support.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Good grief. I'm a software developer, but not in gaming. I cannot fathom having to bring in new staff every 18 months. You are at the point where developers are actually hitting a stride and knocking out tasks at an efficient rate. Only to be shown the door when they start adding real value? I imagine there is some cost savings involved with this as folks want raises and such? Seems incredibly self-defeating for a $3 trillion corporation to be penny-pinching like this if that is what it is.

It’s because Microsoft has historically not valued the gaming business as more art than science.

If you believe that making Halo is just a simple matter of copying what was already done, you won’t treat it with the respect it deserves

Gaming evolves, and that’s the big flaw in their thinking. Institutional knowledge is valuable, and MS has not respected it that way.

 

[StereoVsn]

Good grief. I'm a software developer, but not in gaming. I cannot fathom having to bring in new staff every 18 months. You are at the point where developers are actually hitting a stride and knocking out tasks at an efficient rate. Only to be shown the door when they start adding real value? I imagine there is some cost savings involved with this as folks want raises and such? Seems incredibly self-defeating for a $3 trillion corporation to be penny-pinching like this if that is what it is.

Yep, I would go crazy if I had to change my developers on the team every 18 months, it’s kind of nuts.

I guess it works for MS when they need folks to change icons for Office or something but even there it bites them in the rear.

I have seen a ton of subpar releases in the last couple years from MS on the enterprise side and their support quality has been going downhill for years.

Vast majority of their support staff are contractors and that presents issues when engineers have to go back to Product Group constantly.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I’ve said this many times the past month. Contract people in general don’t really give a shit. They’ll do enough to get the job done and paid but by the time the project is over they are already probably in their next gig unless their contract job involves still being around at launch.

Seen it myself at work (not gaming related). Contract guys bolt for the door at 5pm and some have no problem even telling you what kind of jobs are lined up next as they spill the beans what their recruiter told them when the contract is up. There’s still a couple months to go and they are already itching for the door. Theyve already lost interest here at the office.

Don’t get me wrong, some put in good work.

But end of the day, it still is on the employee to work hard or not really care. I did my share of dumpy jobs in school where some I made minimum wage which was like $6/hr. I always put in good effort even making more product in the machines than the unionized guys. I knew these were short term stints where some were 3 month summer jobs but I still put in my best effort when I could had coasted knowing the shop got a student subsidy so they wouldn’t give a shit if I wasted time.

 

[BlackTron]

Been saying it forever, it's not 343's "fault", if MS set up a new studio with fresh people they would just fail again. While they try to figure out "whose" fault it is internally, the issue begins by not understanding the game business...

 

[HogIsland]

MS's whole approach of creating 343 as The Halo Studio (similarly with Coalition) is totally backward. A game studio needs to be driven by excitement in an idea. If it's just to maintain an IP, it's already doomed to mediocrity. Heavy outsourcing just compounds the problem with inspiration/excitement.

 

[mayham2199]

This has been known for a long time already.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

MS's whole approach of creating 343 as The Halo Studio (similarly with Coalition) is totally backward. A game studio needs to be driven by excitement in an idea. If it's just to maintain an IP, it's already doomed to mediocrity. Heavy outsourcing just compounds the problem with inspiration/excitement.

Yes it starts with the flawed notion that gaming is a solved equation that is just churned out.

Sometimes that’s true for some properties (CoD, Madden, etc).

But Halo had far more prestige than that, and many games need to reinvent themselves in order to find success again (God of War).

Microsoft just wanted the easy money printing machine instead, and it hardly ever works like that unless you get lucky

 

[Bloobs]

Barely legal

 

[mckmas8808]

They regularly contracted people to work on the infamously difficult and muddled Slipspace engine, a decision that will never not be baffling to me.

Makes me wonder why MS ever came up with this contractor policy.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

we knew this... and with A. I. things are going to get much worse for them

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Makes me wonder why MS ever came up with this contractor policy.

to not pay full benefits to workers

 

[MayauMiao]

The late Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said it best:

To avoid layoffs, Iwata took a 50% pay cut to help pay for employee salaries, saying a fully-staffed Nintendo would have a better chance of rebounding.

“If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results, employee morale will decrease, and I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world,” Iwata reportedly said at the time.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The late Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said it best:

I don’t know if it’s true, it I remember people saying Nintendo europe gassed people afterwards. So not in Japan but in other regions.

 

[DeepEnigma]

we knew this... and with A. I. things are going to get much worse for them

You think some of their games have no soul now, you just wait until A.I. is designing for them.

 

[MayauMiao]

I don’t know if it’s true, it I remember people saying Nintendo europe gassed people afterwards. So not in Japan but in other regions.

I don't know if Nintendo see them as permanent and same leagues as the ones in Nintendo Japan.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Makes me wonder why MS ever came up with this contractor policy.

Contract employees are common. Any company can have them. Our company does it too. We hire tax people for a couple months to finalize the year. Then they are gone.

Gaming adds a different dimension since the job can be multi year and has more nuances than a paper pusher.

But to me it shouldnt make a difference if someone is FT or has a contract stint. People should put in a good job regardless.

 

[mckmas8808]

to not pay full benefits to workers

But Microsoft is worth $3 Trillion dollars! Like......what's the point in being that rich, if you can't pay full benefits to some of these workers?

Contract employees are common. Any company can have them. Our company does it too. We hire tax people for a couple months to finalize the year. Then they are gone.

Gaming adds a different dimension since the job can be multi year and has more nuances than a paper pusher.

But to me it shouldnt make a difference if someone is FT or has a contract stint. People should put in a good job regardless.

But clearly because they are contractors, they are only allowed to work there for 18 months at a time. That's a horrible business strategy.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

But Microsoft is worth $3 Trillion dollars! Like......what's the point in being that rich, if you can't pay full benefits to some of these workers?

yeah I know. must be the so damn high Xbox tax

 

[StreetsofBeige]

But Microsoft is worth $3 Trillion dollars! Like......what's the point in being that rich, if you can't pay full benefits to some of these workers?



But clearly because they are contractors, they are only allowed to work there for 18 months at a time. That's a horrible business strategy.

That’s because they don’t them there for the entire game from beginning to end.

If a building is going up and takes 3 years to build, you don’t need the construction crew putting up steel beams and using cranes there the entire time. Different people with different roles rotate in and out.

I think the problem with gaming and FT employment is its so project based without steady work where a graphics guy can hop from one game to the next as multiple games are in development. A lot of these studios probably just focus on one game at a time. So they probably keep key managers and support staff FT and a lot of the game making people are contract. Not sure but that’s the impression I get.

 

[DR3AM]

This is true. One of the reasons 343i and other MS owned studios is switching exclusively to UE5. This is normal in the gaming industry these days.

 

[DJ12]

While not great, surely the people choosing the direction and style of the games are salaried, not temp staff, so the issues run a lot deeper than this.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I can't help but feel we are due a crash and the only company that will escape unscathed is Nintendo.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Microsoft either needs to go all in on its investments in its game studios and top IPs or get the fuck out.

 

[soulbait]

But Microsoft is worth $3 Trillion dollars! Like......what's the point in being that rich, if you can't pay full benefits to some of these workers?

That money is just for shareholders and nothing else. It is all about keeping stock prices high.

 

[DeepEnigma]

This is true. One of the reasons 343i and other MS owned studios is switching exclusively to UE5. This is normal in the gaming industry these days.

For Q&A and tester teams, and small IT tasks. Not for well managed studios and completely design or programming teams.

This is normal for MS, not the rest of the industry.