A Halo Infinite designer leaves 343 industries. Joins Gunfire Games.

Halo Infinite developer Kolbe Payne has officially left the studio. January 7 was his last day working for 343 Industries, and he's now taken a position at Darksiders studio Gunfire Games.

Payne was a campaign level/gameplay designer on Halo Infinite from April 2019 to January 2021. His LinkedIn page says he worked for 343 on a contract basis.

Link.

He had to jump a sinking ship... to join a mediocre, floating ship. But then again, Remnant: From The Ashes was a pretty good game.

Halo died after original trilogy.

Meh, I'll take a Darksiders game or Remnant game over a Halo game 5 out of 7 days of the week.

I'd say he made an upgrade, as far as jobs go. Might miss that Microsoft corporate paycheck and benefits, though.

The real Darksiders developers are working over at Airship Syndicate. Darksiders 3 is considered as the dark child of the series, and for good reasons.

He was fired but as is common to save face for him they allowed him to submit a letter of resignation. :P

Maybe Killzone killed Halo?

Did you not read the last line ? Says he worked as a contractor. He fulfilled his contract and it was done. Here's his response to that post

https://mobile.twitter.com/kolbepayne/status/1348471462357733376

1 year delay and the end result will be the same lol cp2077 of 2021

Welcome to the Darksiders side of the moon 🌚!

I just want more Darksiders games, don't care if it's from Gunfire games or Airship Syndicate.

Yes.

Nice catch and this is typical of SW false narrative machine. Just another backfire is all...

lol :P

Doesn't really mean much. Microsoft has acquired plenty of talent from Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica and Crystal Dynamics in the last couple years. People move around all the time.

No one wants their name and reputation attached to Halo Infinite so it's no surprise that developers are jumping ship before it sinks.

@NathanDrakeSwag: Clearly didn’t read the posts above yours not surprised as it’s you!

Another one bites the dust.

And another one gone another one gone another one.

Hey Halo gonna die 343 sucks.

A company with several hundred employees has a contractual employee that goes to work for another employer... oh jeez.

CP2077 will set a precedent of how the Xbox One version will look. It's gonna be big laughs.

Well as usual this doesn’t mean much of anything at all. 🤷‍♂️

I think MS ruined them by not letting them create their own IP at all they should have taken a break from Halo franchise and focusing on creating something new and then go back to drawing board and focus on the Halo series again

Ouch, a contractors contract was up so now this means Halo Infinite is a sinking ship? Really? Are these the threads we are making now?

Then why did you get so excited when the microsoft studio initiative was recruiting talented developers but when one leaves its suddenly no big deal?

System wars are you really gonna not call this guy out you thought he was the best user on system wars really?

I love how people say its not a big deal when this many have already quit. Soon, Phil will be the only person left, but its fine, its all fine, guys.

@ProtossRushX: don't. This isn't fanwars and you need to stop with this Archangel obsession.

For the record, a studio recruiting talent is a sign of growth and/or new projects being launched. That includes hiring contractors - because the work needs to be done. Conversely, however, a contractor finishing their job and leaving is a sign that... they finished their job. He isn't part of the company. He "did some work for them". Those aren't the same thing. He was paid for some services and apparently is done now.

I know its just the guy seems to flip flop constantly and never has a single issue with xbox and any problem with xbox is zero issues for him at all. It kinda makes my blood boil ill just try to ignore him or somethin.

Just... there is so much hypocrisy and overreaction in your post. Chill.

@ProtossRushX: I was excited to see Microsoft acquiring some talent for their studios to make games. Seeing a contractor leaving because his work is done isn’t a big deal and happens all the time. 🤷‍♂️

How in the world am I “flip flopping”? 😅

The concern troll is melting down.

We now know Halo Infinite looks like garbage because the XSX was weaker than the PS5 all along.

Don't care about Halo, but here's hoping he's going to be working on a GOOD Darksiders sequel as 3 was pretty meh overall with what seemed like either a rushed development or money issues (or both).

I love Darksiders 1 and 2, let's hope the franchise can get back to that level of goodness.

@SecretPolice said:

@njricand said:

Did you not read the last line ? Says he worked as a contractor. He fulfilled his contract and it was done. Here's his response to that post

https://mobile.twitter.com/kolbepayne/status/1348471462357733376

Nice catch and this is typical of SW false narrative machine. Just another backfire is all...

lol :P

Good for that dude to call Gamespot out on its bullshit. Clickbait, indeed.

*Went back to the article and, not surprisingly, it was written by Eddie Makuch or whatever.

Are we going to make a big deal every time someone leaves 343? Even when it's a contractor that's fulfilled their contract?

The controversy over the Halo Infinite demo was mostly down to its presentation. Halo fans were generally happy with the gameplay they saw. CDPR only even showed us tiny snippets of gameplay, or that one quest that is considered to be one of the few good quests in the game. Looking back on the reactions to the Halo Infinite demo it's hard not to feel people were excessively harsh. I'm glad it got delayed because I also felt it looked underwhelming, but people are completely writing this game off and that's just unfair.

I agree it shouldn't be a big deal when someone leaves but it also shouldn't be a big deal if some big hot shot joins the studio.

All I care about is games. If there game is good or sucks thats all I care about I don't care who works there or anything else.

We got a ton of threads praising 343 and initiative for recruiting talent and the same should happen when talent leaves and those same ppl were praising them joinining should be concerned if people are leaving or there contract is up.

Me I only cared about the games and finished products.

Halo 4 was mediocore trash compared to Halo 1-3

Halo 5 was crap

Halo MCC was broken it got a 6/10 on here for the best games ever made in a collection. I couldn't login I kept getting kicked out of my single player games tons of sound bugs and predators bugging out who made this crap 343 did not bungie 343 did.

Halo Inf looked awful

343's track record is horrible right now.

The Initiative has no track record they haven't released crap yet we can't say a word about them yet.

Nintendo they put out banger after banger after banger after banger. They have a track record we can trust. If someone leaves or joins nintendo i care about that. I don't care about 343 or initiative right now.

The Sony faction may have to start vetting their fanbase. 😂🤣

Protoss and his fake outrage finally got called out by a mod 🤣🤣🤣

Also archangel being himself seems to stress out a LOT of cows.

Sony fannies general reaction to Archangel's posts.

@Pedro:

So like, are you just gonna ignore the part where it said he was a contractor and that his contract was up? Or did you only read the title and first few lines?

"My contract was ending so I found a new job," Payne said on Twitter.

Contract issue? NBD. Sometimes positions open up and sometimes they don't.

I never read the article prior, but it was stipulated throughout... Why is this thread open?

Because I want more Darksiders games that isn't Darksiders 3 :(

Well I mean losing someone to a contract, getting fired, or them leaving is as big a story as some dude joining the company imo. Which we did have like 3-4 threads about initiative and 343 hiring talent, so losing some should be about same deal tbh on systems wars don't you think?

@ProtossRushX: No it’s not a big deal you just like to make everything a big deal when it comes to Microsoft! Even a mod has called you out of your fake rage and going overboard give it a rest man

To be fair, I really enjoy Darksiders 3 the most compare to 1,2. I don't understand why Darkisders 3 isn't getting more love and I really enjoy Fury as a character of the 4 Horsemen.

Whenever I see Archangel13371 posting, he's always killing Cows with kindness. Killing them softly😈

They're not equivalent as has been explained to you, new hires, recruitment, expansion etc, is indicative of a production increase or some other movement within w/e company is being discussed, similarly a mass exodus or sudden departure of senior staff is equally noteworthy and indicative of behind the scenes movements/developments, contractual staff seeking new contracts elsewhere when their contract is up just isn't noteworthy.

This shouldn't even be news. An independent contractor completed his job. End of story.

My concern is just getting a great Halo game. In just talking about single player campaigns, Halo 3 is a masterpiece, Halo 4 was okay, Halo 5 was a mess. Though I did like the mechanics and the upgrades in 4 and 5. And quite honestly, I don't see the hate people have for 4 and 5.

And people need to cool it with the Master Chief Collection. That was an impressive collection. They could have easily just given us the campaigns and some couch/LAN options and called it a day.

You don't understand the hate for Halo 4 eh? Did you notice the music wasn't the same with Martin O'Donnell ya know the powerful halo themes in 4 the warthog run etc. Did you notice that it had stupid call of duty quick time events in halo 4 when 1-3 didn't have any that garbage like grabbing on ledges felt like call of duty single player garbage and little cutscenes interupting the gameplay?

Did you not notice fighting stupid robot machines instead of aliens with blood an guts like halo 1-3? Did you not notice how linear the level design was in halo 4 compared to halo 1's open giant beach world planet? WHERE ARE YOU DUDE? YOU DONT SEE the hate for the game? The aliens looked way too realistic instead of fun like they were in halo1-3 you didnt noticfe people hating on that either did you?

Yeah maybe im not a true fan you are a true fan and like halo 4 and don't see any hate for it. Whatever.

That was hilarious. A full blown rant. Ironically, I actually think we're not disagreeing.

Halo 4

- I was done with the covenant.

- Loved the Didact as a character and the prometheans.

- The music was subpar.

- I agree, larger levels would have been much better. It was more linear than 3, where I think 3 is really the benchmark for the series.

- "Giant beach world", you mean Halo itself? The beach isn't that big when you go back and play. There is more open space in other levels. In fact, you may remember you have to get off the beach and head inland regardless.

- I enjoyed the realism. Thought the art style was true to Halo but was only "more realistic" because of the capabilities of the hardware.

- The covenant being more vicious I also liked. Speaking an alien language was more enjoyable.

- I dislike COD, full stop. But any updated mechanics to Halo were welcome. Otherwise, it would feel dated. If Link can now jump, I can live with Master Chief sprinting.

- The story wasn't great, but the relationship between Cortana and Chief was absolutely great.

Halo 5

- same as above

- HATED the story. Hated playing as anyone but Chief.

- Not too many "Halo" moments, like soft music cues, exploration

- Music was not memorable.

- did I say I HATED the story?

Both games had excellent multiplayer. I don't know why the multiplayer didn't have the staying power of 3? Maybe too much competition? These days I don't have time to invest into multiplayer sessions, so maybe someone could tell me.

@davillain-: Eh, each to their own. It's blasted by fans for good reason. Fury is not a compelling character and was just made to push the women are more powerful movement. They destroyed my boy War in that game. :l

Fair enough, although Fury plays more like Bayonetta in a very grounded gameplay.