Xbox Boss Breaks His Silence On Halo Developers Quitting

"Halo Infinite" has been a game that people have been looking forward to for quite some time, and although it was initially delayed for a year, fans have been happy to learn that it allowed 343 Industries the time to make the game better. Even so, others have been concerned about the fact that three major figures on the "Halo Infinite" team left in the midst of development. Back in 2019, Mary Olson, who was the Lead Producer on the campaign mode, and Tim Longo, who was the Creative Director, left the company. In October the following year, Head of FPS Development Chris Lee resigned as well. This didn't bode well for fans at the time, but Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty has recently explained why the departures shouldn't have anyone too worried.

In an interview with The New York Times, Booty explained that turnover isn't all that uncommon for game development studios, even in the middle of major projects. Without saying the reasons behind any specific person's resignation, he pointed out that sometimes "the momentum of the project is going one way, and that person has a vision that's going the other way."

From what people have been saying about the multiplayer portion of the game, things may have turned out the way they were meant to be. Aside from an event that went off the rails a bit, the "Halo Infinite" mutiplayer beta has received positive remarks since its surprise release in November. And while Matt Booty's comments are reassuring, this wasn't the only time someone from Xbox has responded to concerns surrounding the people leaving the company.

When people shared their concerns on Reddit after Longo and Olson left, a 343 employee who goes by Unyshek explained that these resignations weren't the result of a major "creative dilemma," as people feared. He also explained that Olson's job as a Lead Producer was more of a supervisory role, rather than a creative one. In other words, Unyshek reassured fans, the vision for the game was still the same.

In November 2020, Microsoft's vice-president of gaming, Phil Spencer, told GameSpot that there was nothing abnormal going on with the turnover and that fans did not need to be concerned about the state of the company or "Halo Infinite." Matt Booty's latest comments seem to reflect this sentiment. Although fans may still have their worries when it comes to "Halo Infinite," it sounds like the departures from the company weren't as disruptive to the development process as fans had imagined.