343 Industries studio head Pierre Hintze issued a public assertion on Twitter (opens in new tab) declaring that the developer would proceed to work on Halo. This assertion comes only a few days after 343 was impacted by the ten,000-person spherical of layoffs at Microsoft (opens in new tab).
“Halo and Grasp Chief are right here to remain,” The assertion begins.”343 Industries will proceed to develop Halo now and sooner or later, together with epic tales, multiplayer, and extra of what makes Halo nice.”
It’s unclear what number of of these 10,000 employees Microsoft laid off have been 343 builders. The assertion appears to be in response to a narrative originating with French Halo influencer, Bathrobe Spartan (opens in new tab), who had beforehand leaked tales just like the plans for a Halo Infinite battle royale mode (opens in new tab).
Bathrobe Spartan alleged that 343 noticed a serious restructuring of its position on the franchise, outlined right here on ResetEra (opens in new tab) in English. Bathrobe Spartan particularly claims that 343 misplaced one third of its workforce together with contractors, Halo Infinite missed its gross sales targets, and that 343 will step again right into a “coordinating position” on the franchise versus actively creating new Halo video games.
One of many leaker’s claims, that deliberate Halo Infinite single participant DLC was canceled and that this contributed to the departure of inventive director Joseph staten, has been at the least partially debunked by Home windows Central managing editor Jez Corden: “There was by no means any marketing campaign DLC in lively improvement,” Corden tweeted (opens in new tab), “I do not know the way you scrap one thing that does not exist.”
The identical day because the layoffs, former 343 developer Patric Wren and contractor Nicholas Fowl criticized 343 management (opens in new tab) for its path on Halo Infinite and therapy of contracted employees, who have been restricted by Microsoft to 18-month stints on the firm with obligatory six-month breaks in employment.
After a troubled improvement and seemingly profitable launch, Halo Infinite sadly had a tough 2022 (opens in new tab), with a gradual tempo of multiplayer updates and vital delays on options like Forge and marketing campaign co-op. Even with Hintze’s public assurance, Halo was already in a nasty place earlier than 343 took this hit, to say nothing of the human value of so many employees having their lives upended.
