Microsoft Studio Behind Halo Faces a Reboot on Years of Turmoil

Microsoft Corp. says it’s going to keep making new games in the popular Halo franchise at its prized 343 Industries studio — despite rumors to the contrary. But after a leadership overhaul, mass layoffs and a host of big changes, the outfit is all but starting from scratch.

[darthv72]

while nobody likes to hear of job losses... for the future of this series it needed to happen. Bring in people who have a passion for the Halo lore and want to see the franchise thrive.

[Obscure_Observer]

I think 343i spent to much time working in parallel projects like the old Halo version alongside Infinite.

I hope they get the time to organize and focus in a single big Halo project (yes, I want the Open Word structure to continue) that Master Chief and his fan deserve. Until then, good job for those that remain, and good fortune for those that sadly lost their jobs.

See you again in the next chapter.

[n1kki6]

The foundational campaign for Infinite was awesome. It would have been really great to get DLC a couple times a year to expand into different missions and biomes. It's too bad they could never get the post launch support right. But sometimes it does require letting go of some staff to rebuild. I have been on the wrong end of it before, it sucks, but businesses will business.

[RaidenBlack]

I know Infinite is a soft reboot sort of .... but what they should is ... create another Halo campaign and finish off this current ongoing story
And then,
Do a hard reboot, with a totally new story and then move on from there .....

[Thundercat77]

Without a new management, new people can come with full passion and face the walls that has destroyed Halo so far.

[porkChop]

I believe the management was already laid off a couple weeks ago, no?

[porkChop]

"Bring in people who have a passion for the Halo lore"

What's crazy is that 343 was full of ex-Bungie devs. They literally had people who created the original games.

[babadivad]

They have passion for the lore, what they lack is leadership and focus.

[Christopher]

Pretty sure it's the fault of leadership that people with passion for the Series were just let go.

[Jin_Sakai]

They need to change the name with the reboot. Everything bad clings to the name 343i. Excited to see where Halo goes with these changes.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

It sounds like M$’ patience are finally catching up with fans.

[Sonic1881]

It's only been over a decade

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

And it feels amazing to hear my friends FINALLY acknowledge the drought as their XsXs start their third year without a system-selling game…

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@MIDGETonSTILTS17,
I don't think any of my friends bought this gen's Xbox, they all brought PS5s instead, even the die hard Xbox fans who I thought would never buy one. Which reminds me, amongst my friends and co-workers... I don't know anyone who owns a Xbox Series X.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

@FF:

Lucky you (:

My friends bought XsX the very first quarter, same with their Xbones.

I got a ps5 even faster, and that did nothing to dissuade them.

They believe in Game Pass…

[zidane1341]

Lmao are you really still spelling Microsoft with a $ in 2023? You’re so cheeky.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Why not? What has changed?

[thesoftware730]

I can't read the article unless I subscribe.

[dumahim]

Same. I never see paywall'd sites here, so you'd think it's against the rules to use one.

[Vengeance1138]

What exactly makes the studio "prized" ? They would need to do something of note to gain such a status.

[Obscure_Observer]

"What exactly makes the studio "prized" ? They would need to do something of note to gain such a status."

They did. In the end, Halo Infinite turned out to be a great game despite it´s flaws and convoluted development.

Haters wants 343i to leave. Fans wants 343i to stay. I´m just glad Phil chose the later.

[rippermcrip]

The franchise is staying with 343i, but the studio's roster is basically being replaced... so did Phil really choose the later?

343i was handed one of the greatest franchises in gaming history. They did nothing with it. So, they don't deserve any special status like they did something great.

[Vengeance1138]

and this kids, is what "delusion" looks like ;) such a great game! Thats why the studio is 1) changing engines to Unreal and 2) Completely starting over again from scratch.

Take the L dude.

[Obscure_Observer]

@rippermcrip

"The franchise is staying with 343i, but the studio's roster is basically being replaced... so did Phil really choose the later?"

What the hell are you talking about, dude?

343i used to be a studio with 400+ employees. About 60 people were laid off. That´s about 1/5 of their workforce. Where did got the information they´ll be replaced?

Just stop with the lies and FUD BS.

[Obscure_Observer]

@Vengeance1138

"Thats why the studio is 1) changing engines to Unreal and 2) Completely starting over again from scratch."

And the water is wet.

"1) changing engines to Unreal"

Yes, just like CDPR did, which is awesome in my opinion.

"2) Completely starting over again from scratch"

As it should. Nothing but the expected from a true current gen game. Halo Infinite is a crossgen game.

I´m glad Xbox is leaving the old gen behind unlike the competition.

[Crows90]

1 game...with many issues=prized?

[Traecy]

It seems you're alone in that thinking.

[crazyCoconuts]

"I´m glad Xbox is leaving the old gen behind unlike the competition."
Shall we count games that only run on PS5 vs. games that only run on XSX/XSS? I'm even throwing in XSS into new gen for laughs...
Let's start with Xbox:
Ummm......

[babadivad]

No one is a bigger fan of Halo than I am and I want 343 out. They can keep working on lore stuffs and world building. That seems to be their wheelhouse.

Microsoft has tons of talented devs in house now. It's time to let the giys who know how to make games do that.

343 has spent a decade tripping over themselves. To this day, Halo Wars 2 will still randomly crash(believe it or not, people still play this game online).

It took them YEARS to get MCC in a respectable state.

Need I bring up how they have missed every deadline they set for themselves in Halo Infinite. This is after delaying the game because of the "Craig" fiasco.

Just to illustrate how inept their leadership is, they(or rather Phill) didn't think there was anything wrong with the Craig version of they game. It wasn't until the backlash that they realized what a horrible state the game was.

The Campaign was pushed back and delayed SEVERAL times. Even that launched unfinished.

You had to wait a year before you could even play the campaign online with a friend(despite them claiming this would be available at launch).

I am one of the guys who loved the Infinite campaign but even after two years, it's still buggy. There's always a chance you will get to a checkpoint and the game refuses to allow you to progress.

A waypoint says you should go through a door (that should open automatically) but it doesn't open. Going back to the last checkpoint by killing yourself never fixes this issue when it happens (it's admittedly pretty rare) you have to completely quit out of the campaign and load back in.

I have also on more than one occasion clipped through the floor to my death.

This is all incompetence at the top. 343 has done nothing but ruin Halo's lofty status since they have held the reigns.

Halo 5 was legitimately a bad game. Not a bad Halo game, a bad game in general.

Honestly, Halo 5 killed Halo. That was on 343's watch.

[The Wood]

'I´m glad Xbox is leaving the old gen behind unlike the competition.'

......How can I call a untrue statement stupid without getting a strike ...?

[Obscure_Observer]

@crazyCoconuts

"Shall we count games that only run on PS5 vs. games that only run on XSX/XSS?"

So you believe a game to be a true next gen game just because it´s only available on Xbox Series or the PS5?

We played GT5 and Tlou on the PS3 and you really think games like Returnal and Destruction AllStars are true next gen games? Did you really fell for that BS line from Jim Ryan? "We Believe in Generations"? XD

Let me breaking down for you: You´ll still be getting Spiderman 2 and Death Stranding 2 and guess what. Both of those games will be labeled "only on PS5" but in reality both will be PS4 games in it´s core.

Same old engines, same old limitations. You´ll be getting more of the same thing. Lol.

If you´re waiting for something new or revolutionary, be prepared for disappointment.

You have been warned. So don´t feel sorry for yourself when you realize that Sony made a fool out of your when you´re playing the same old Spiderman on steroids.

@babadivad

"Honestly, Halo 5 killed Halo. That was on 343's watch."

So Halo 5 killed Halo and you still came back for more? And you expect people to believe you when you say you want 343i to leave?

WHY did YOU not left the franchise after Halo 5? If you call the studio incompetent and unworthy of Halo, what´s make you come back and play their games? What´s your own actions make of you look other than a hypocrite? If you don´t believe on their work, YOU ´re the one that should leave Halo behind until some another studio that you like takes over.

Now that you know that 343i will continue as Halo main studios, are you REALLY done with their games? Hmm...

No offence dude, but I don´t believe you. I think you´ll continue to come back for their games just like you did so far, and you´ll continue to bite the hands that feed you.

That´s the kind of gamer you´re.

[Knushwood Butt]

'Same old engines, same old limitations. You´ll be getting more of the same thing. Lol.'

Looks at the new Forza game.

[Poopmeister]

"Let me breaking down for you: You´ll still be getting Spiderman 2 and Death Stranding 2 and guess what. Both of those games will be labeled "only on PS5" but in reality both will be PS4 games in it´s core."

Do you need some help getting off the ground from that MASSIVE swing and miss. Lol, who are you trying to fool with thus statement?

[Obscure_Observer]

@Knushwood Butt

"Looks at the new Forza game."

Forza Motorsport is powered by the new ForzaTech a next gen engine.

But hey, don´t take my word for it. Let´s just wait and see how well GT7 and Horizon fares against both Forza Motorsport and Fable.

[Knushwood Butt]

^

Yeah, it's been 'built from the ground up'.

Looks like the same old thing.

GT7? Apparently you can play almost the entire game in VR. Not the same old thing.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Halo 😇 I hope this doesn't get worse imo.

[Asplundh]

Imo you overly use the abbreviation imo. Your comment is obviously your opinion, do you have to state it in literally every other comment?

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Yes I do because apparently some users can't distinguish this fact

[Knushwood Butt]

^ That's just your opinion

[Thundercat77]

I don't know but as Xbox has put their eyes and hope on Behtestha, I'm not sure Halo will receive the attention, management and passion it needs to come back to life.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

It's been kinda dead for a while, maybe I was lucky that I never got to play Halo 5. At this point, Halo is one of those franchises that should probably consider taking a rest for a while.

[-Foxtrot]

Sounds like they need a full on reboot

Keep Chief and Cortana just take it back to basics and start fresh since the story has become a bit of a convoluted mess

I shouldn’t need to read novels and the like to understand things in future stories.

[babadivad]

No need to retread old ground. No need to reboot. Chief and Cortana (i.e. weapon) are already back together.

They just need to focus on the story they want to tell and move forward.

The Halo universe is extremely deep and diverse ans 343 wants to try and force every bit of it into the mainline game. That's never going to work out.

Leave the ancillary stuff on the sideline and focus on telling ONE story.

[-Foxtrot]

What story? After Halo 4 343 basically used the next game to fix the one before

Not to mention the jumps after each game rather than them creating an ending to lead into the next game

It’s like a hundred things have happened when you start Halo 5 or Infinite and it’s like “what did I miss?”

Like I’ve said it’s become a massive mess and they need to reboot so they can plan things out

A new Halo 1-3 should cover the Covenant, the different tribes and alliances.

Halo 4-6 should be about the Flood,

Halo 7-9 can be about something new, possibly something they’ve awoken from stopping the Flood

Halo is always going to come out, may aswell think far ahead so they don’t trap themselves into a corner

[Profchaos]

It can be deep and diverse and still in the mainline game forcing fans to read novels to keep up with lore is instantly going to turn off a large percentage of fans.
Many games manage to cram much more complex story lines into their games such as mass effect and even doom had a lengthy compendium which was optional if you wanted lore.

If you splinter lore into side products you end up in the star wars scenario where what's cannon changes with the next mainline directors opinion. That novel you read and loved now never happened because director X changed a whole planet ignorantly.
You're can base becomes splintered with some that see it as simple sci fi and others that want it to be a big thing leaving one group hating another

[The3faces]

True. A total reboot might just be in order.

[MegaLogic]

For once I am in agreement , I know this sound insane but imagine a news story direction and Metroid gameplay mechanics ? Let the multiplayer have its own world and mechanics to
Keep diehards happy but Halo needs new direction, story and game mechanics

[-Foxtrot]

Honestly I feel that

Personally I think they need to separate the multiplayer and single player

Have time and resources dedicated to both

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

They could always do side stories like Reach, or they could just retcon some of the games, or just do a timeline split, there's many ways they could go about it.

I'm a fan of the side stores idea like Reach though.

[Brazz]

"...prized 343 Industries studio..."
Prized!? More like infamous!

[Profchaos]

The oh crap Bungie is leaving us let's do something quick studio

[GoodGuy09]

I say close down or sell 343... because clearly they've failed horribly with halo.
Just sell halo to Sony and have Sony make Bungie work on halo again lol.

Joking aside, mcsft really needs a complete do over for halo. Just do smaller non live service single player/co op games like odst maybe and once they gain more and more experience then they can make a major title in like 10 years. License out halo to multiplayer experienced companies to do halo MP maybe? And just use unreal engine please...

I don't know...as a fan of the old games, I do want halo to stay alive.

[talocaca]

So what Microsoft-owned studio is managed well? Other than Turn 10 releasing high quality Forza titles, it seems that most studios they buy just collapse.

Remember when Rare like Naughty Dog?

[dumahim]

Not even Forza is immune. Turn 10 dropped the ball with FM7 and is starting over (even if they're claiming built from the ground up, it's clear that may not apply to car models*). It might be 6 years in between the new one and FM7.
With Playground, FH5 had a ton of problems after launch that persisted for quite a while. Even now people are generally unhappy with the quality of the seasonal updates as lazy. As far back as a couple months after launch, I'd check Steam player counts between FH4 and 5 and they're far closer than they should be. FH4 vs FH5 24 hour peak: 9378, 10,213.

* to be clear, I don't necessarily mind that models be reused. I think they look good enough, as long as there's no glaring errors with it. Just don't try and claim it's being built from the ground up when you're reusing assets.

[aaronaton]

"Prized Studio".... haha good one!

[EternalTitan]

Good.