Joseph Staten simply left Microsoft. Technically it didn’t actually change something when speaking about the way forward for Halo in comparison with when he left Halo developer 343 Industries to return to his earlier function at Xbox Publishing again in January. That got here amidst the layoff-fueled shakeup on the studio that noticed many senior leads depart both at the moment or prior to now yr since Halo Infinite first shipped. And but one way or the other, his full severance from Microsoft feels a bit extra somber for this longtime Halo fan, as a result of it implies that he’s unlikely to have a lot, if any, affect on the way forward for the franchise – which he nonetheless may’ve from his Xbox Publishing perch.
And so whereas it’s truthful to surprise the place Halo is heading from right here – I’ll get to that in a bit – I wished to take the chance to precise my gratitude for somebody that had a significant hand in creating a few of my favourite video games of all time. Staten was a Bungie “Grizzled Historical,” the studio’s inside time period for somebody who’d been on the firm for a protracted, very long time. That is the person who wrote the unique Halo trilogy. You bear in mind, the near-perfect first recreation – the one whose memorable marketing campaign and characters single-handedly turned the Xbox into a significant participant within the console area – the neatly informed and stunning sequel that had you enjoying as The Arbiter for a part of the journey, and the trilogy capper that gave Grasp Chief and mates closure and which means whereas nonetheless leaving a glimmer of hope that Spartan-117 may sooner or later return. “Wake me… once you want me.”
However Staten wasn’t executed with Halo there. He adopted that by directing Halo 3: ODST, the movie noir-inspired Halo recreation that took you out of the MJOLNIR armor and into the boots of a regular-ol’ human. The Covenant dangerous guys (effectively, besides the Grunts… who, by the best way, have been voiced by Staten) seemed lots greater as a daily individual than as a seven-foot-tall tremendous soldier. And all of it was set in a pseudo-open hub world the place you may go the place you wished to and revisit places once you wished or wanted to. The whole lot was watched over by the mysterious Superintendent AI (“Preserve it clear!”), which, coincidentally, was additionally voiced by Staten. And the temper was set by Halo composer Marty O’Donnell’s jazz-inspired, piano-heavy soundtrack that made ODST really feel not like some other Halo recreation. It’s, to this present day, nonetheless beloved by Halo followers and, for some, stays their favourite Halo recreation ever.
After which, after all, we get to Halo Infinite. Its six-year improvement cycle was messy, even simply from what we received to see publicly. And after the gameplay debut for the Xbox Sequence X’s would-be day-one flagship launch title went infamously poorly, Microsoft took the daring and considerably embarrassing however completely needed step of delaying Infinite out of the Sequence X’s launch window and bringing Joseph Staten into 343 because the mission’s artistic director. Although I do know there are followers on the market who’d maintain Joseph accountable for making robust selections like reducing split-screen co-op and delaying Forge – and as artistic director the buck stops with him – within the greater image, take a look at the place Halo was at earlier than Staten arrived (i.e. Craig) and take a look at the marketing campaign we finally received in December of 2021. We received an impressive single-player marketing campaign – one which soft-rebooted Halo whereas nonetheless persevering with Chief’s story. And one, I would add, that efficiently washed the dangerous style of Halo 5’s disastrous marketing campaign out of our mouths. No, Staten didn’t do it alone, however he however deserves numerous credit score for pulling Halo Infinite collectively like he did.
Staten did not do it alone, however he however deserves numerous credit score for pulling Halo Infinite collectively like he did.
And as I discussed earlier, Halo’s future is however murky. It appears extremely unlikely we’ll get any marketing campaign content material in any way – be it a side-story DLC with Blue Group (as they’re talked about in an audio log) or a full-blown “Halo 7” – anytime within the subsequent a number of years or maybe extra. One other massive query is, “Who’s going to guide Halo into the long run?” It gained’t be Staten, whom I’d have trusted implicitly. As a substitute, it could be a youthful technology of recreation improvement expertise at 343 – much like the younger weapons at id Software program efficiently reinventing Doom for the fashionable period in 2016 – or 343 may look to poach big-name expertise from different studios.
However that’s a dialog for one more day. For now, I’d like to precise my appreciation and gratitude to Joseph Staten for having such a giant hand in creating a lot of the very best Halo there’s ever been: Halo: Fight Developed, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo Infinite. That’s lots for him to be pleased with, and I’m so glad I received to play these video games as they got here out and benefit from the water-cooler dialog that every one generated – and discuss to him about his nice journey.
Get pleasure from your subsequent journey, Joseph, and thanks for the entire nice Halo.
