Ex Halo Devs Criticizes Microsoft For the Current State of Halo Infinite Amid Significant Layoffs
In the wake of Microsoft’s announcement that over 10,000 employees would be laid off due to an economic slowdown, former developers of the Halo franchise have taken to Twitter to express their frustration and blame the company’s leadership for the current state of the franchise and the recent layoffs at 343 Industries. Bloomberg reported that Xbox studios The Coalition, Bethesda, and Halo developer 343 Industries would be affected by the layoffs. Jason Schreier via Bloomberg reported:
Some people at Bethesda Game Studios, maker of the upcoming Starfield, as well as 343 Industries, the company behind 2021’s Halo Infinite, were affected, according to people familiar with the matter.
Some of those who lost their jobs were veterans who had been with Xbox for more than a decade, said the people, who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.”
Furthermore, 343 industries head, Pierre Hintze, reportedly sent the employees the following email:
[We] made the difficult decision to restructure elements of our team, which means some roles are being eliminated.”
Former ex-Halo developers Tyler Owens and Patrick Wren, both currently working at Respawn, have criticized Microsoft’s leadership for the state of Halo Infinite, which has been plagued by rumors of development issues and missing features.
Patrick Wren, who worked as a multiplayer designer on Halo Infinite, tweeted that the layoffs at 343 Industries “shouldn’t have happened” and that the game should be in a better state, blaming “incompetent leadership up top during Halo Infinite development causing massive stress on those working hard to make Halo the best it can be.”
The layoffs at 343 shouldn't have happened and Halo Infinite should be in a better state. The reason for both of those things is incompetent leadership up top during Halo Infinite development causing massive stress on those working hard to make Halo the best it can be.
— Patrick Wren (@Witdarkstar) January 19, 2023
Tyler Owens, who worked on Halo 5: Guardians, also took to Twitter to express his frustration, saying that Microsoft’s business practices and policies are slowly killing the franchise he loves, citing the company’s contracting policies and layoffs in the face of “gigantic profits/executive bonuses.” He added that Microsoft has set the Halo franchise up for failure.
I really don't care if I should be saying this or not anymore
— Tyler Owens (@heytred) January 18, 2023
Despite the criticisms, Wren did point out that the multiplayer leadership team on Halo Infinite was actually pretty great.
I do want to make sure that I call out how amazing the Multiplayer Leadership team was during development. https://t.co/wo6AfVyoDO
— Patrick Wren (@Witdarkstar) January 19, 2023
What are your thoughts about this? Do you agree with the ex Halo devs? Let’s discuss this in the comment section below.
