Halo's Joe Staten Provides Update Following 343 & Microsoft Layoffs

Microsoft are not a charity and 343 haven't performed to acceptable standards for the huge investment of money.

Hopefully now they can finally be removed from Halo let a competent studio work on it. At this point it's the only way to save the Halo franchise as it's been poor since Bungie left.

343 should be given one last chance on their own IP to redeem themselves. If this fails close the studio.

always good when a boss keeps his huge salary, tries to get good PR from mass layoffs.

@Kaloudz I always thought why not Infinity Ward, their Infinite Warfare game while widely underrated and hated was actually solid and they have some experience in sci-fi genre. An ODST game made by them would definitely rule.

Still not sure what to make of these cuts. No real messaging from above. If this is due to the game underperforming then why is the Starfield team affected.

I think Halo is turning around but public perception is a different beast and people moved on. 343 should move on to Halo 7 just for the marketing and hype reset, and use Unreal next time.

@Kaloudz I echo this for the single player…I’m not sure how well they’d fear for mp though.
A better fit would be one of the cod dev teams if they manage to get abk. I would however like to see halo move to the unreal 5 engine.

Either way, 343 have had their chance…it’s time someone else was given a chance with halo. Personally I’d like to see the series branch out more and actually build upon the franchise - it’s still iconic enough to be instantly associated with Xbox …so there’s life in it yet. They have countless talented wrpg dev teams now - I’ve been banging the drum for a halo rpg for years. That world is pretty rich and could be fully explored and exploited under decent story tellers.

@Jenkinss I think 343 is affected hardest because they are the worst performing studio of the bunch and probably they have ballooned in size quite a bit in the buildup to Infinite launch.

@Moonglow how can you call the campaign a masterpiece? It was very disjointed. The inside missions were awesome but the open world was far cry 2. Halo didn’t need an open world it just needed a quality game. 343 have forced so much crap into this franchise.

@Moonglow
I don't think I'd go so far as to call the single player a masterpiece but I did really enjoy it. The multiplayer was awesome too but I agree it was the long term support that dragged it down, not the actual multiplayer gameplay or anything.

I do think 343 gets a lot more vitriol than they deserve sometimes. I mean sure they aren't perfect but I can't say I've regretted any purchase of a game from them thus far so that has to count for something.

@Kaloudz The one with spacey was Advanced Warfare from sledgehammer.

@Kaloudz Idk how I feel about ID working on halo… Sure the modern Doom campaigns have been fantastic. But ID have fallen flat on their face when it comes to multiplayer in recent times. Halo is about balancing both the online and single player aspect.

All I want to know is if snickerdoodle lost her job?

That be all I need.

@Baler I have to agree there ive NEVER not completed a Halo Campaign. Infinite is the 1st one I did not... Halo is and always has been defined by its world building (& story) and level design. Open world just doesn't work I actually enjoyed Halo 4 that was a "masterpiece" compared to this crap. Even Halo 5 I forced myself to finish the Campaign. But the person is entitled to that opinion if they enjoyed the open world aspect then I say to each they're own. Best thing 343 has done is the remaster collection and 4 I believe Bungie still worked on with them so that dont even count (if im correct). I pray they find new jobs I really do thats a bummer but Halos been a disappointment since they have had the wheel. Im not a MP junkie like the rest of the world/generation destroying my hobby but I do/did LOVE Coop in Halo and they botched that to. So good luck to all you guys and gals I pray for your families im sure your good devs you'll find a new home. You just couldn't seem to grasp what Halo was and tried to make it your's.

@Floki Yeah I agree, Id isn't the one I dont think. If this was a decade ago I'd say yes now definitely not. If they keep it in-house lets pray they don't let Activision get it if they do aquire it. I'd rather Respawn give it a go then them. Actually im editing this post I think Respawn would be a great choice period. If MS would back them and beef them up to take it on I don't think I'd be concerned.

@Fragslayer To be fair (sorry I just read my post back over) we don't REALLY know who makes these decisions. So if they were forced to make these lame decisions then we owe phil and everyone else involved some criticism as well.

@Fragslayer Unfortunately Respawn is owned by EA. But I wouldn't mind seeing an Infinity Ward made halo that isn't about spartans.

@Fragslayer I completed it on legendary. I know people like the grapple but I personally thought it felt like cheating. The game was really easy on legendary compared to previous games I think although it did have its moments of real difficulty. Harbinger in particular was tricky. I think halo needs worlds that feel massive but actually aren’t, like combat evolved was. That’s what works best and we should always be in the action not searching for Mjolnir armour. I’m really disappointed about the campaign DLC also.

I feel for anyone who loses their jobs, especially right now, and doubly so when it's the higher ups who are responsible. That said, can't say I'm shocked, 343 has been doing horrible with handling Halo, and may have destroyed a lot in the process of trying to make this work. Hopefully this sent a message, don't rush a game that ain't ready, don't force crunch time on devs, delays are better than... gestures at Halo THIS.

Best of luck to those who were termed, hopefully they land somewhere where the management does t have their head up their 🍑