Halo Infinite Creative Director Leaves Company [Update: Lead Producer on Campaign leaves as well]

[Sankara]

I remember when a bunch of leads left the Mass Effect Andromeda team mid-development. A bunch of people were all "no worries, this is perfectly normal, people always leave, the script is finished". And you all know how that ended up...

Same form of damage control by emotionally invested fans with Anthem.

It's never a good sign when lead creators leave, especially when it's something we haven't ever really seen.

 

[Papacheeks]

I remember when a bunch of leads left the Mass Effect Andromeda team mid-development. A bunch of people were all "no worries, this is perfectly normal, people always leave, the script is finished". And you all know how that ended up...

Same form of damage control by emotionally invested fans with Anthem.

It's never a good sign when lead creators leave, especially when it's something we haven't ever really seen.

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Yup.

 

[J 0 E]

Creative director leaving a year before release? That's not a good sign.

Being developed by 343 is already not a good sign to me, they never made a great Halo.

 

[Proven]

So should Phil Spencer cancel Halo Infinite now or wait until the gameplay reveal?

 

[Cactuar]

So now instead of dev teams we are now lumping entire companies into a rational?

Now I'm all worried about Age of Empires 4!

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We're comparing developers to publishers now?

Context is important. So let me tell you that 343 didn't develop Crackdown 3.

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Microsoft isn't a development studio.

343 is

Also...Sumo Digital made Crackdown. Not 343.

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Are you denying that Microsoft has had a weak first party outing as of the last several years? Phil Spencer himself has said as much.

I'll spell it out again because some seem to want to miss the forest for the trees. The reason no one is worried about CDPR is because of their recent track record, they've built up trust. The reason some might be worried here is the exact same, Microsoft's recent track record as it pertains to its first party outings. Even if this studio didn't make Crackdown, the games still all fall under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella. It is VERY important for Microsoft that Halo Infinite is successful, if you do not see why any news that make some question that success would be met with more questions that the same situation happening at a singular developer like CDPR it's only because you don't want to see it.

This is not to say the concerns are warranted, but it doesn't take Einstein to see why it holds more relevance.

 

[Betty]

There is SO much riding on Infinite, the pressure on this one title is going to be immense.

Nothing less than greatness will be sufficient.

 

[MegaXZero]

Well that aint good. Still hoping it can turn out okay, but not a good look.

 

[Yearsoflurking]

Are you denying that Microsoft has had a weak first party outing as of the last several years? Phil Spencer himself has said as much.

I'll spell it out again because some seem to want to miss the forest for the trees. The reason no one is worried about CDPR is because of their recent track record, they've built up trust. The reason some might be worried here is the exact same, Microsoft's recent track record as it pertains to its first party outings. Even if this studio didn't make Crackdown, the games still all fall under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella. It is VERY important for Microsoft that Halo Infinite is successful, if you do not see why any news that make some question that success would be met with more questions that the same situation happening at a singular developer like CDPR it's only because you don't want to see it.

This is not to say the concerns are warranted, but it doesn't take Einstein to see why it holds more relevance.

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😄😄 why are you lumping 343i it's own legal entity with sumo digital I'm legit confused as fuck are you high? So because ori was a great game my expectations of let's say some random shit at obsidian is supposed to be high?

 

[VeePs]

Same form of damage control by emotionally invested fans with Anthem.

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Yup.

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We are comparing Bioware, a studio with a history of troubled development, turmoil between two different studios (Montreal vs Edmonton), forced to use Frostbite engine (even though they had troubled with it), the publisher being EA who has been giving games not enough development time (Battlefront II, Battlefront, Anthem, Mass Effect Andromeda, NBA Live, BFV, etc.), to 343?

A studio given the time to create a brand new engine to help avoid content creation problems from previous games, given 5 years to work on this project, that has retained most of their talent and vet's while expanding the studio?

Okay I guess.

Could this be a bad sign? Yes. Could it be nothing? Yes. Is the situation between Bioware and 343 the same? Hell no.

 

[AntiMacro]

For fuck's sake people, it could be they found a dream job or maybe something personal that necessitates stepping away. The doom and gloom knee jerk reactions here with no substance behind it gets really old.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

I remember when a bunch of leads left the Mass Effect Andromeda team mid-development. A bunch of people were all "no worries, this is perfectly normal, people always leave, the script is finished". And you all know how that ended up...

Same form of damage control by emotionally invested fans with Anthem.

It's never a good sign when lead creators leave, especially when it's something we haven't ever really seen.

Click to shrink...

Have we heard any rumblings of 343 being an internal mess the past 8 years? Because Bioware was and likely still is a clusterfuck and Andromeda the result of 3 Bioware studios trying to reign in the design and restructure a game about 2 years late. That alone makes this comparison weak to me.

 

[bsigg]

For fuck's sake people, it could be they found a dream job or maybe something personal that necessitates stepping away. The doom and gloom knee jerk reactions here with no substance behind it gets really old.

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Shh.....only the doom and gloom is allowed to exist here.

 

[GING-SAMA]

I remember when a bunch of leads left the Mass Effect Andromeda team mid-development. A bunch of people were all "no worries, this is perfectly normal, people always leave, the script is finished". And you all know how that ended up...

Same form of damage control by emotionally invested fans with Anthem.

It's never a good sign when lead creators leave, especially when it's something we haven't ever really seen.

Click to shrink...

Halo infinite is not in trouble wtf.


In addition to his Mass Effect andromeda was done by a young team at Bioware Montreal not edmonton, it was not the bioware veteran who was working on it.


343 industries are clear with the fans, he confess their mistakes loudly with Halo 5, The design director of bordelands 3 joined 343i 1 year ago to take the lead on the campaign, there's plenty of explanation for his departure but the development is not in trouble.

 

[ThisIsBlitz21]

Are you denying that Microsoft has had a weak first party outing as of the last several years? Phil Spencer himself has said as much.

I'll spell it out again because some seem to want to miss the forest for the trees. The reason no one is worried about CDPR is because of their recent track record, they've built up trust. The reason some might be worried here is the exact same, Microsoft's recent track record as it pertains to its first party outings. Even if this studio didn't make Crackdown, the games still all fall under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella. It is VERY important for Microsoft that Halo Infinite is successful, if you do not see why any news that make some question that success would be met with more questions that the same situation happening at a singular developer like CDPR it's only because you don't want to see it.

This is not to say the concerns are warranted, but it doesn't take Einstein to see why it holds more relevance.

Click to shrink...

When did I fucking say that MS didnt have a weak first party. Stop putting words in my mouth.

No it sorta doesnt hold relevance here. Crackdown 3 does not hold relevance to Forza Horizon, not to Flight Sim, Not to Ori, and not to Halo. CAUSE THEY ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STUDIOS.

STOP, comparing Publishers to Devs, APPLES TO ORANGES.

Bandai Namco is publishing Cyberpunk in a lot of territories. Does that mean Cyberpunk will be bad because the last game they put out was jump force? Using your logic, yea it will be.

 

[Proven]

I obviously don't know what his role was in Infinite but I wasn't a fan of some of the things he was a proponent of in Halo 5. I have no idea what him leavings means neither does anyone else.

 

[Slyfox]

I remember when a bunch of leads left the Mass Effect Andromeda team mid-development. A bunch of people were all "no worries, this is perfectly normal, people always leave, the script is finished". And you all know how that ended up...

Same form of damage control by emotionally invested fans with Anthem.

It's never a good sign when lead creators leave, especially when it's something we haven't ever really seen.

Click to shrink...

Never looked at it this way. This makes me scared.

 

[jviggy43]

For fuck's sake people, it could be they found a dream job or maybe something personal that necessitates stepping away. The doom and gloom knee jerk reactions here with no substance behind it gets really old.

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No one has substance to say whether this is good or bad one way or the other so its weird to focus on the people who are concerned about this as knee jerk reactions without substance

 

[DemonCarnotaur]

Yeah your right I think this thread mostly has a "perception" problem going for it

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I don't think it's fair to say people aren't allowed to be dissuaded by this news, but I will agree some of the posts calling doom have been a bit much.

 

[Papacheeks]

We are comparing Bioware, a studio with a history of troubled development, turmoil between two different studios (Montreal vs Edmonton), forced to use Frostbite engine (even though they had troubled with it), the publisher being EA who has been giving games not enough development time (Battlefront II, Battlefront, Anthem, Mass Effect Andromeda, NBA Live, BFV, etc.), to 343?

A studio given the time to create a brand new engine to help avoid content creation problems from previous games, given 5 years to work on this project, that has retained most of their talent and vet's while expanding the studio?

Okay I guess.

Could this be a bad sign? Yes. Could it be nothing? Yes. Is the situation between Bioware and 343 the same? Hell no.

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Heres the thing, i343 has had issues with the direction of halo. Nothing technical like what happened over at Bioware your correct. But at the same time, also that game had issues everywhere from it's conception, to engine they used, to how they changed dialogue options and it didn't feel like mass effect. SStory was also garbage.

What we saw initially knowing original people behind mass effect 1-3 were on it were still hyped as fuck. I mean say what you will about 1-3 but they are still fucking super solid games. Mass effect 2 is one of my all time favorite western rpg's i put it up there with witcher 3 for game of it's generation. So far with 343 they have had a weird time and take on halo.

So people like myself who have been through the ups and downs with my last game being halo 4, and a dip into halo 2 MCC campaign. Are a little skeptical right now when we hear news like this.

Could mean nothing, could be no more squad stuff which I hear is a good thing for Infinite. Could also mean issues in the actual direction of the game similar to halo 5.

 

[Droyd]

This, combined with the fact that we saw basically nothing of the game at E3, points to some troubled development on this project for sure. Things are clearly not in a great place.

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Lol.

 

[John Frost]

Interesting, we'll see how it shapes up.

 

[Nessii013]

What, How did I miss the version part!?

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I assumed people had noticed it already? Here it is in the trailer:

You can see it at 3:29 in the trailer, right as VISR boots up.

Also, that series of periods and colons (. : : . : : : : , etc.) when converted to binary (: is 1, . is 0) and then to ascii translates to "oh hey....." That same phrase occurs later in the sequence too.

Alas, haven't discovered anything else in the trailer.

EDIT: Just did a google search and there is a small halo waypoint thread about it, but it doesn't look like any major gaming news outlet has mentioned it, so maybe this isn't common knowledge lol.

 

[Seahawk64]

Damn...

High Sodium thread.

 

[TheRaidenPT]

Are you denying that Microsoft has had a weak first party outing as of the last several years? Phil Spencer himself has said as much.

I'll spell it out again because some seem to want to miss the forest for the trees. The reason no one is worried about CDPR is because of their recent track record, they've built up trust. The reason some might be worried here is the exact same, Microsoft's recent track record as it pertains to its first party outings. Even if this studio didn't make Crackdown, the games still all fall under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella. It is VERY important for Microsoft that Halo Infinite is successful, if you do not see why any news that make some question that success would be met with more questions that the same situation happening at a singular developer like CDPR it's only because you don't want to see it.

This is not to say the concerns are warranted, but it doesn't take Einstein to see why it holds more relevance.

Click to shrink...

Yes, public perception regarding MS First Party is really awful, people have been wondering for the past 4 years what the hell has 343 been cooking and then this happens

 

[Vire]

For fuck's sake people, it could be they found a dream job or maybe something personal that necessitates stepping away. The doom and gloom knee jerk reactions here with no substance behind it gets really old.

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Being creative director of the Halo franchise isn't a dream job? Damn dude

 

[Droyd]

You'd think the sky is falling

Everything is either perfect or doomed

 

[ShaiKhulud]

Read Jason Schreier's book and articles, there is a lot to learn there about those kind of shake-ups (U4, Destiny, Anthem). And they are never a good sign even if the game is great at the time of the release (Uncharted 4). Especially when release is planned within a year.

Maybe Halo Infinite will still be good, great or even fantastic. Maybe it will be strange mess like Halo 5 (I'm still mad about terrible SP campaign) or a broken rushed release like MCC. Maybe it will be divisive like Halo 4. It's not like 343i output is perfect. Don't panic (yet), but at the same time, don't try to sugar-coat the situation. It's still alarming and not normal.

 

[Proven]

I assumed people had noticed it already? Here it is in the trailer:

You can see it at 3:29 in the trailer, right as VISR boots up.

Also, that series of periods and colons (. : : . : : : : , etc.) when converted to binary (: is 1, . is 0) and then to ascii translates to "oh hey....." That same phrase occurs later in the sequence too.

Alas, haven't discovered anything else in the trailer.

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Halo 5 beta was on December 29th

 

[SunBroDave]

Read Jason Schreier's book and articles, there is a lot to learn there about those kind of shake-ups (U4, Destiny, Anthem). And they are never a good sign even if the game is great at the time of the release (Uncharted 4). Especially when release is planned within a year.

Maybe Halo Infinite will still be good, great or even fantastic. Maybe it will be strange mess like Halo 5 (I'm still mad about terrible SP campaign) or a broken rushed release like MCC. Maybe it will be divisive like Halo 4. It's not like 343i output is perfect. Don't panic (yet), but at the same time, don't try to sugar-coat the situation. It's still alarming and not normal.

Click to shrink...

.

 

[Proven]

Read Jason Schreier's book and articles, there is a lot to learn there about those kind of shake-ups (U4, Destiny, Anthem). And they are never a good sign even if the game is great at the time of the release (Uncharted 4). Especially when release is planned within a year.

Maybe Halo Infinite will still be good, great or even fantastic. Maybe it will be strange mess like Halo 5 (I'm still mad about terrible SP campaign) or a broken rushed release like MCC. Maybe it will be divisive like Halo 4. It's not like 343i output is perfect. Don't panic (yet), but at the same time, don't try to sugar-coat the situation. It's still alarming and not normal.

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Maybe there was something that he wanted in the game that he was in minority favor for, and felt strongly enough that he got demoted and then left. Again, I have 0 clue how any of this stuff works. It's weird but if there's a difference of opinion people can just quit because of it.

 

[Deleted member 55421]

Tim Longo was the guy that forced that 4 players at all times in the campaign cause that worked so well for republic commando...

As far as I'm concerned, this can only be positive.

 

[DocH1X1]

I assumed people had noticed it already? Here it is in the trailer:

You can see it at 3:29 in the trailer, right as VISR boots up.

Also, that series of periods and colons (. : : . : : : : , etc.) when converted to binary (: is 1, . is 0) and then to ascii translates to "oh hey....." That same phrase occurs later in the sequence too.

Alas, haven't discovered anything else in the trailer.

Click to shrink...

Holy shit I didn't notice that, also combine that with this info today about confirmation of Infinite beta testing flight:

 

[janusff]

So any rumblings around the campfire on when we might see a gameplay reveal for Halo Infinite? We thinking E3 next year or sooner?

 

[Papacheeks]

So any rumblings around the campfire on when we might see a gameplay reveal for Halo Infinite? We thinking E3 next year or sooner?

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Well look a couple posts up looks like multiplayer gameplay in late December possibly.

 

[FFWarrior005]

I remember when a bunch of leads left the Mass Effect Andromeda team mid-development. A bunch of people were all "no worries, this is perfectly normal, people always leave, the script is finished". And you all know how that ended up...

Same form of damage control by emotionally invested fans with Anthem.

It's never a good sign when lead creators leave, especially when it's something we haven't ever really seen.

Click to shrink...

Exactly. It's a very worrying sign for sure no matter how much some people here want to try to apply damage control.

 

[Proven]

So any rumblings around the campfire on when we might see a gameplay reveal for Halo Infinite? We thinking E3 next year or sooner?

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Educated guess we have a beta late this year early next year

 

[Proven]

Exactly. It's a very worrying sign for sure no matter how much some people here want to try to apply damage control.

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I would be more concerned if it was someone like Neil druckman who has a higher pedigree

 

[The_Land]

Tim Longo was the guy that forced that 4 players at all times in the campaign cause that worked so well for republic commando...

As far as I'm concerned, this can only be positive.

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He also was the creative director of a HALO game where you play as Master Chief for 30% of the game. Master Chief.....the most iconic character in the Xbox Brand.

 

[Papacheeks]

I would be more concerned if it was someone like Neil druckman who has a higher pedigree

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What about amy Hennig?

 

[Seganomics]

Cripes! If a project as momentous as Halo Infinite is , (and let's be clear Halo is is in do or die territory) can be derailed by one person leaving the project then MS is in bigger trouble than we could ever have imagined.
Funnily enough I think Gears 5's outcome is going to give us a good insight into how the MS first party philosophy is going to play out going forward. Only a month to go to see if we should really be worried about Halo.

 

[Nessii013]

Halo 5 beta was on December 29th

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Holy shit I didn't notice that, also combine that with this info today about confirmation of Infinite beta testing flight:

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Huh, so maybe this actually IS the flighting start date? I would imagine initial flighting starts on xbox one, then add in PC and Scarlett the following year. I know they mentioned flighting for Infinite would start out on console (unlike Reach).

 

[Kasey]

Damn, I didn't know the quality of a game worked on by a studio of 500 people hinged on the work of a single creative director.

 

[Deleted member 55421]

He also was the creative director of a HALO game where you play as Master Chief for 30% of the game. Master Chief.....the most iconic character in the Xbox Brand.

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Yeah I mean I looked at his resume and he's worked on a lot of very average Star Wars games. I really don't see what the big deal is. I've played h5 and hated it.

If Chris lee left, then that would worry me. But him? Not worried.

 

[DocH1X1]

Yeah I mean I looked at his resume and he's worked on a lot of very average Star Wars games. I really don't see what the big deal is. I've played h5 and hated it.

If Chris lee left, then that would worry me. But him? Not worried.

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Agreed if Chris Lee left even I would be like.... Well shit

 

[Papacheeks]

Cripes! If a project as momentous as Halo Infinite is , (and let's be clear Halo is is in do or die territory) can be derailed by one person leaving the project then MS is in bigger trouble than we could ever have imagined.
Funnily enough I think Gears 5's outcome is going to give us a good insight into how the MS first party philosophy is going to play out going forward. Only a month to go to see if we should really be worried about Halo.

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Difference is gears is being lead by a guy who was there from the beginning with the series as a whole next to cliffy b. Gears 4 though not amazing, was still a solid game, just not a exciting one.

Halo 5 which to me is more iconic than gears especially with MasterCheif he kind of dropped the ball, and was then leading infinite's direction. Hopefully this news is course correction similar to uncharted 4 where the end protect comes out singing.

Damn, I didn't know the quality of a game worked on by a studio of 500 people hinged on the work of a single creative director.

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God of war, and Zelda noth went through not only relaunches of their gameplay mechanics but also in their entire conception from one persons vision. Cory Barlog basically rewrote Kratos and the whole universe with his pitch. Obviously theres a whole writing team, but he was there every step from concept, to gameplay changes to inclusion of Atreus.

If he left mid development, It could go either way depending on the original direction being scrapped or carried on. Same for zelda.

 

[DrDeckard]

Hopefully everything's ok. Microsoft and 343 need a win with infinite.

 

[DailyCalmSpirit]

Damn, I didn't know the quality of a game worked on by a studio of 500 people hinged on the work of a single creative director.

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I mean, it's also not like the creative director is like, the janitor or something.

 

[Lokimaster]

Sheesh. That can't be good

 

[Cactuar]

When did I fucking say that MS didnt have a weak first party. Stop putting words in my mouth.

No it sorta doesnt hold relevance here. Crackdown 3 does not hold relevance to Forza Horizon, not to Flight Sim, Not to Ori, and not to Halo. CAUSE THEY ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STUDIOS.

STOP, comparing Publishers to Devs, APPLES TO ORANGES.

Bandai Namco is publishing Cyberpunk in a lot of territories. Does that mean Cyberpunk will be bad because the last game they put out was jump force? Using your logic, yea it will be.

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Does Bandai Namco own the Cyberpunk 2077 IP? I find it funny how you pretend not to see the connecting thread between the games I mentioned is that they are all first party Microsoft IP. And the weak first party that you just mentioned is at the center of the Infinite concern. It's not hard to piece together, unless someone just wants to make it that way.

 

[CollectedDust]

I'm really concerned. Turnover in key positions this late in development is never a good sign. Fingers crossed!