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343 Industries to 'Continue to Develop Halo Now and in the Future'

343 Industries to 'Continue to Develop Halo Now and in the Future' - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 22 January 2023 / 2,087 Views

Microsoft this month announced it will lay off 10,000 employees and Halo developer, 343 Industries, was hit the hardest out of all first-party Xbox studios with at least 60 people reportedly laid off.

Following speculation from fans that 343 Industries might no longer develop future Halo games the Studio Head Pierre Hintze via Twitter has reassured its commitment it will continue to work on the franchise.

"Halo and Master Chief are here to stay," said Hintze. "343 Industries will continue to develop Halo now and in the future, including epic stories, multiplayer, and more of what makes Halo great."

Joseph Staten, Halo veteran and the head of creative on Halo Infinite, is leaving 343 Industries to rejoin Xbox Game Studios Publishing. He left Xbox Game Studios Publishing in 2020 to join 343 Industries to help development on Halo Infinite. He previously worked at Bungie on the original Halo trilogy.


A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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14 Comments
TheLegendaryBigBoss (on 23 January 2023)

While Halo Infinite is 343's best imo, it still fell short of where it should be. Perhaps on their next installment (4th attempt) they may get it right!

  • +5
Azzanation (on 23 January 2023)

Good, the Studio is literally named after Halo. I like their work, not Perfect but they innovate with every outing so far.

  • +2
LivncA_Dis3 (on 23 January 2023)

Multiple Higher ups from 343 leaving and then the most layoff from the xbox division jayzus what's going to happen to 343 in the future

  • 0
zero129 LivncA_Dis3 (on 25 January 2023)

Isnt that where most of the problems with 343 came from to begin with and why fans where calling for a restructuring of the studio?. Well it seems like thats whats happening. So im hoepfully this new 343 will do a much better job. After all they are now being run by the guy who saved the Halo MCC and in the short time his been there has done more for infinite then anyone else since its release.

  • 0
DonFerrari (on 23 January 2023)

I don't think that was ever in question.

  • 0
tslog (on 23 January 2023)

The studio that failed massively, are now doubling down and denying any fault. The absolute wrong way to address the issue.
If his goal was to further deflate the honest Halo fans, then well done. Own goal achieved.

  • -9
smroadkill15 tslog (on 23 January 2023)

What are you talking about? This response is about rumors of 343 not making Halo games going forward which is clearly false. It has nothing to do with being right or wrong.

  • +8
Imaginedvl tslog (on 23 January 2023)

What issue are you even talking about lol?
There is no "issue" to address... They are just replying to a stupid rumor

  • +5
scrapking Imaginedvl (on 23 January 2023)

I think @tslog is right to say that some long-time Halo fans don't like the direction of the series, and blame 343i. I am a long-time Halo fan, and I actually quite like Halo Infinite's campaign, but not all Halo fans agree with me.

  • 0
Pemalite scrapking (on 23 January 2023)

It's hard to argue that the quality of the franchise has fallen since Halo: Reach.

That isn't to say Halo Wars 2, Halo 4, Halo 5, Halo: Infinite have not been enjoyable... Far from it.
But it is hard to top Bungie's work. (Even Ensemble in regards to Halo Wars.)

Either way, long gone are the days where I dump hundreds of hours into Halo's campaign or multiplayer. Infinite I finished in about 6-8 hours, probably never going to be touched again.

  • +2
scrapking Pemalite (on 24 January 2023)

I have played every Halo (and I mean every Halo, including Wars 1 and 2, Wars 2 DLC, Spartan Assault, Spartan Strike, you name it).

I played one hell of a lot of campaign co-op in Halo: CE back in the day, and I've played all the FPS games since. I like Infinite more than 4 and 5, and at least as much as Reach. But I've come to enjoy Halo Wars and the Assault/Strike games the most for replay value.

I think it's time for further brand extensions. How about a turn-based strategy game that spans the length of Halo lore? Something akin to Gears Tactics maybe, or something more like a traditional small unit turn-based wargame.

How about a Halo RPG, where you roll up an ODST character, or a Spartan IV? Get Obsidian to do it, maybe.

  • +2
JackHandy scrapking (on 24 January 2023)

I'm an OG fan. I've been there since the first game. But when I brought up the franchise with another OG that I hadn't seen in years, the first thing he said was, "Halo's sucked since Reach." lol.

I think most OGs consider Halo to be dead. It was Bungie's baby, and now it's something else with the Halo name attached. That something else may be good, but it's still something else. Sort of like Resident Evil etc. The franchise technically exists, but is it what it was on PS1? No, not at all. It's basically an entirely different thing.

  • 0
scrapking JackHandy (on 25 January 2023)

That's fair enough. Hard to argue that. Though in fairness, I think had Bungie continued to shepherd Halo to the present day that the people involved would have changed over time, and the game would have evolved too. It likely wouldn't have stayed static, or wouldn't have remained popular if it had stayed static.

  • +1
JackHandy scrapking (on 25 January 2023)

True. The thing I miss the most, though, is Marty's scoring. It was so great!

  • 0