Amid rumors that 343 Industries has been dropped from lead development of the Halo franchise, the studio said on Twitter that it will continue “current and future development of Halo.”
343 Industries Studio Head Pierre Hintze shared the following message: twitter, “Halo and Master Chief will live on. 343 Industries will continue to develop Halo now and in the future, including the best of Halo, including epic story, multiplayer, and more.”
– halo halo) January 21, 2023
The news follows a mass layoff of 10,000 people at Microsoft, which saw dozens of employees laid off at Xbox Game Studios, The Coalition, 343 Industries, and Bethesda. Shortly after, Halo Infinite director Joseph Staten reportedly left his 343 Industries to rejoin publishing on Xbox.
Rumors then swirled that 343 Industries was removed from lead development of the Halo franchise, instead helping a third-party studio bring Halo to life in the form of a new game. To Metro, One such leaker named Bathrobe Spartan has even said that initial plans for Halo Infinite’s story-based DLC have already been cancelled.
In response to rumors, 343 Industries raised its flag and said it would stay here.
Since its announcement, Halo Infinite has had a bumpy road, from the controversial E3 2020 demo, to the unpopular original battle pass, and a modified progression system that canceled split-screen co-op.
Both the single-player and multiplayer campaigns of Halo Infinite received scores of 9/10, and there were plenty of positives as well, as the team did a lot to address fan complaints.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @Adam Bankhurst and Cramp.
