343 Industries is not a well-beloved developer. From delivering inferior products to attempting to kill off Master Chief, to focusing on politics instead of delivering a quality product, the studio has been nothing more than a black stain on Halo’s illustrious history. No surprise, then the development of Halo Infinite has been rocked with problems that preceded the outbreak of the coronavirus.
With four studios developing the game, Halo Infinite managed to fail to match the graphic fidelity of Halo 3, along with Microsoft’s expectations. As a result, the game that Microsoft had intended to be their flagship launch title has been pushed back into 2021.
On August 26th, 2020, ReviewTechUSA broke the rumor that his source claimed Microsoft was gearing up to replace leadership for the project. Microsoft’s justification was the current leadership was too unpredictable, but no clarification was made as to what that infers. Given the timing, it is likely the change in leadership had, in part, something to do with 343 Industries taking an anti-police stance with the removal of the police plate in Halo: ODST.
I Just received word that #343Industries is going to announce a change in leadership tomorrow because the current leadership is too “unpredictable”. #Halo #HaloInfinite #XboxSeriesX
— Richard Masucci #StayHome (@THEREALRTU) August 26, 2020
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Not long after, Microsoft announced the former lead developer of Halo 1-3 would be returning as project lead on Halo: Infinite.
Also @Franklez promised me unlimited food-nipple access, so how could I refuse?
All kidding aside, please don’t expect to hear much from me. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. But I’m honored to have this opportunity and will of course #KeepItClean.
— Joseph Staten (@joestaten) August 27, 2020
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343 Industries’ ongoing problems can no longer be denied, with new management being brought on board at such a late stage in development. Fixing Halo Infinite will be no easy task, but Staten has the experience under his belt to do so.
