Halo Infinite Director Joseph Staten Leaving 343 Industries to Rejoin Xbox Publishing

After today’s announcement, Microsoft lays off 10,000 peopledetails continue to emerge about how the internal restructuring will affect the games sector, with Halo Infinite’s 343 Industries among the studios affected.

according to bloombergHalo veteran Joseph Staten, who began his career at Bungie in 1998, will transition from his creative director role on Halo Infinite to rejoin Xbox’s publishing division.Join Staten The team at 343 Industries In 2020, he served as the campaign project lead for Halo Infinite, after which his title was changed to Head of Creative.

Bloomberg’s report includes an email from 343 Industries head Pierre Hintze, explaining that the studio has “made the difficult decision to rebuild” and will continue to support Halo Infinite’s live service features. It says it will. The details of Staten’s new role and the exact extent of its impact on 343 Industries are currently unknown.

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Staten’s credits include a long history of the Halo series, beginning with his roles as cinematic director on Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3. lead writer About Destiny, Bungie’s sci-fi shooter. He left his MMO role and rejoined Microsoft in 2014.

Halo studios is one of many affected by Microsoft’s layoffs, including Gears of War studios and The Coalition. Recently acquired BethesdaMicrosoft’s blog It said the cuts would affect 5% of its workforce. In addition to it, 1,000 employees laid off in October 2022.

Microsoft is still making acquisitions as layoffs and restructuring extend to game studios. One year ago today, the company announced: buy activision blizzard A record-breaking $68.7 billion.or The deal was later condemned by regulatorslike the US Federal Trade Commission, an investigation is underway.

Andrea Shearon is a freelance contributor for IGN covering games and entertainment. She’s worn several hats during her seven-year career in the games industry, including Fanbyte, USA Today’s FTW, TheGamer, VG247, and her RPG byline on her site. Find her on her Twitter (@ Majora) or the Materia Possessions podcast to chat about series including FFXIV, RPGs, and giant robots.