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343 Industries Will No Longer Make Halo Games, But Will Oversee Outside Development - Report

It's claimed that 343 Industries will be taking a backseat to the development of future Halo games.

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Update: 343 Industries has denied reports that it is ending active Halo development at the studio.

A new report has claimed that longtime Halo developer 343 Industries is being taken off of "active development" of the franchise and that new games in the series will be created by third-party studios. According to Halo leaker Bathrobe Spartan--who has a solid track record leaking Halo inside information--and translated by Metro, Microsoft's mass layoffs have hit 343 Industries hard and will see up to a third of its workforce laid off. Veteran developer Joseph Staten is reportedly exiting the studio and will rejoin Xbox Publishing.

343 Industries will then take on a parental role for Halo, overseeing new games and content while working on maintaining the game's engine. This isn't entirely new territory for 343 Industries as it has relied on outside help to develop Halo Infinite's multiplayer content (Season 2 is a prime example of this), but Bathrobe Spartan claims that the planned story-based DLC has been scrapped due to it being considered not cost-effective under 343's stewardship.

A follow-up to Halo Infinite is also expected to enter pre-production alongside spin-off titles, with these games reportedly being franchised out to other studios and being developed on more modest budgets. While Halo Infinite had a strong launch, recent months have seen 343 Industries criticized for delayed content rollouts, tedious multiplayer progression, and numerous bugs.

Controversially, 343 canceled couch co-op so it could instead focus on developing Halo Infinite's live-service features. Back in November, 343 also remarked on Halo Infinite's challenging year and promised improvements to its content release cadence starting with the Winter Update, while reports began to circulate that multiplayer partner Certain Affinity was working on an ambitious new mode for the game. Season 3: Echoes Within is still scheduled to start on March 7, and will add new multiplayer maps, the Bandit rifle and two new game modes.

GameSpot has contacted Microsoft in an attempt to get more details, and will update the post once a response has been received.

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Apazeus

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Apazeus

It’s hard to think of a company that accomplished less with more, than 343.

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illegal_peanut

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illegal_peanut

@Apazeus: Probably DICE.

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Avenger305

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Avenger305

@illegal_peanut: At least DICE has made a decent game in the past 10 years.

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illegal_peanut

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illegal_peanut

@Avenger305: Well DICE's worse. is way worse than 343's.

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Daian

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Daian

Yikes, just yikes. Are we sure we want Xbox in control of more franchises? Maybe them buying all these publishers is a bad idea.

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cboye18

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cboye18

@Daian: Well they don't care about quality exclusives anymore since the end of the X360 era. It's all about owning as many franchises as possible to put them on Game Pass; quality be damned. It's no surprise that the Halo franchise has been neglected for so long.

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dabear

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dabear

@cboye18 said:

@Daian: Well they don't care about quality exclusives anymore since the end of the X360 era. It's all about owning as many franchises as possible to put them on Game Pass; quality be damned. It's no surprise that the Halo franchise has been neglected for so long.

Age of Empires, Forza (and Horizon), Flight Simulator, Pentiment, Grounded, As Dusk Falls, Sea of Thieves, Halo Wars... they have has a lot of highly rated titles since the 360 days.

And, Halo Infinite scored a 9/10 on gamespot (87 on Metacritic).

Don't be a fanboy.

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cboye18

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Edited By cboye18

@dabear: None of these games are at the level of passion or quality Nintendo, Playstation and many other third-party (indie) game companies are releasing. Age of Empires 4 and Sea of Thieves were a disappointment at launch.

And journalistic game reviews are merely credible these days. Relying on Gamespot and Metacritic for proper game reviews is laughable; might as well rely on IGN review scores.

If you enjoy their average standards on how they're handling their exclusives, that's good for you. To me, it's a clear sign that Xbox nowadays lack the passion and dedication to make impressive AAA games. Game Pass subscription revenue will be more than enough.

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lanmanna

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lanmanna

@cboye18: Metacritic aggregates review scores, but go off.

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dabear

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dabear

@cboye18 said:

@dabear: None of these games are at the level of passion or quality Nintendo, Playstation and many other third-party (indie) game companies are releasing. Age of Empires 4 and Sea of Thieves were a disappointment at launch.

And journalistic game reviews are merely credible these days. Relying on Gamespot and Metacritic for proper game reviews is laughable; might as well rely on IGN review scores.

If you enjoy their average standards on how they're handling their exclusives, that's good for you. To me, it's a clear sign that Xbox nowadays lack the passion and dedication to make impressive AAA games. Game Pass subscription revenue will be more than enough.

LMAO. Sure, buddy.

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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Edited By deactivated-64efdf49333c4

@dabear: Replies like this imply you're incapable of formulating a proper response. That or you don't care to; either way, you're not endearing yourself.

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dabear

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Edited By dabear

@Barighm said:

@dabear: Replies like this imply you're incapable of formulating a proper response. That or you don't care to; either way, you're not endearing yourself.

When someone responds with that level of drivel, that is all they get. Sea of Thieves launched with an 8/10 score, and has been a great live service game since then - constantly delivering solid content. AoE IV has an 81/100 Metacritic score.

According to him, I am not to look at any game review sites - I am instead supposed to... what... bow to his personal reviews of games in the market?

The guy's post was fanboy trash. As such, that reply was all his comment was worth.

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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Edited By deactivated-64efdf49333c4

@dabear:

Don't be obtuse. The studio just lost Halo and this thread is full of people telling you Infinite isn't all that great. People have been bemoaning 343's handling of the license for years. Maybe, just maybe, those Metacritic scores aren't telling the whole story, hm?

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dabear

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Edited By dabear
@Barighm said:

@dabear:

Don't be obtuse. The studio just lost Halo and this thread is full of people telling you Infinite isn't all that great. People have been bemoaning 343's handling of the license for years. Maybe, just maybe, those Metacritic scores aren't telling the whole story, hm?

I play Halo Infinite once a week. The 98 reviewers of the game got it right.

As for the people bashing it. Look at the cboye's history. Obviously, he is against MS as a whole. Maybe, just maybe, consider the source?

GamesRadar placed it 4th on "Rank of Halo Games"

https://www.gamesradar.com/best-halo-games/

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jonnyHOLLYWOOD

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jonnyHOLLYWOOD

@Daian: I don't think we need to be scared. Remember, 343 was formed by Microsoft to take over Halo after Bungie left the Microsoft umbrella to become independent again.

Recent history shows us that Microsoft doesn't meddle with purchased studios like it used to. This allows those studios to maintain their culture and vision, independent of Microsoft's influence.

Basically, Microsoft buys these developers as future profit centres with already established IP. Where they seem to struggle is spinning up new developers. Case in point, 343, and the Initiative (the jury is still out on this one, but the studio is definitely struggling with many significant departures).

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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Edited By deactivated-64efdf49333c4

@jonnyhollywood: Recent history also shows us many companies that have claimed to be free of corporate meddling were, in fact, very much being meddled with. It also shows us every dev lies their ass off.

I wouldn't put much stock into "recent history".

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lonewolf1044

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lonewolf1044

@Barighm: They may not meddle but when it threatens their bottom line or profits, they just might get involved and do what is necessary to correct if possible and the last resort is closure.

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jonnyHOLLYWOOD

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@Barighm:

Many companies, yes. I will stand by my assessment of Microsoft's limited meddling with recently purchased entities (however arbitrary it may be, lol). I do think they have learned from their previous mistakes, there was a good interview with Phil and Matt Booty I think, on how they realized that Corporate Culture doesn't need to be infused into existing studios.

While these newer acquisitions may not be receiving influence culturally or creatively, they aren't immune to the fiscal decisions of big business. Hence the layoffs affect Bethesda as well.

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OldDadGamer

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@Daian: I think anyone buying publishers is a bad idea. Not that I'm against exclusives, but when you take a studio that used to be third party and make it exclusive you change the culture of the studio. I cannot think of any instance where a major culture change at a studio led to more successful, better games.

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