Yes, Halo's Joe Staten Really Has Rejoined Xbox Publishing

Looking at his involvement with Halo, I think he may be done with Halo creatively. He was a writer but his story was scrapped during difficult development and then retconned by others. That must have been a big blow. He departed and wrote a book with full creative control and then led ODST with full creative control. That may have been his closure with the franchise, returning to Halo now is returning to a fiction at odds with the one he wrote. So it's likely that joining Infinite was only business.

Or, he will return when Microsoft have figured out what the heck to do with Halo and have studios on board.

If season 3 is anything to go by 343 is coming pretty well. Given this story is an extension of season 3 though, it’s hard to say how much Joe has to do with it. I don’t know if he has anything to do with the multiplayer story.

Looking forward to where the rest of the season goes. It all seems to be leading to a really interesting taste on Infection. Where instead of the flood, Iratus, the Banished AI, takes over the spartan and makes them go bloodlust. I mean, that’s a great setup!

Death for you. TRIUMPH FOR ME!!

@Benjamin Honestly, I don't think he wants anything to do with Halo anymore anyway and also game development in general. If you think about it. Didn't he and Marty O'Donnell and rest of Bungie drop Halo and rocket towards making Destiny, only for both him and Marty to be fired/to quit Bungie later on? Marty famously having a dozen legal battles with Bungie etc. So his career as a developer and writer past Halo wasn't exactly a roaring success either and it is in no shape fault of Microsoft and 343. Bungie eventually figured out Destiny but not with him or Marty on board. His involvement with 343 was also probably an idea from Spencer or other higher ups to appease the fans and put a trustworthy face in 343 after the disaster of the 2020 gameplay demo.

"He was a writer but his story was scrapped during difficult development and then retconned by others."

Which time window does this refer to? His story for Halo 3?

@BrilliantBill Staten wrote Halo 2 but the story was pulled apart as levels were cut during development. The original ending to Halo 2 was one of many things cut, it was supposed to be a big reveal.

Staten went away and wrote the book Contact Harvest which hinted at this big reveal. Halo 3 didn't feature Halo 2's scrapped ending but did hint at the same reveal.

However, Halo 3's marketing and everything 343i onwards, took things in a different direction which nullified Staten's ideas and retconned the hints left in Halo 1, 2, 3 and Contact Harvest.

He then created the world and plot of Destiny before it was also ripped apart and repurposed by Jason Jones' decision to make Destiny non-linear from the get go.

So I don't imagine the passion is there anymore.

*The reveal concerns the Forerunners and if anyone wants to know more you can search for Halo 2's original storyboards to see it. Staten has confirmed this since in an interview with IGN.

@Benjamin That's interesting.