Following the originalHalotrilogy created by Bungie, 343 Industries took over to make its own trilogy of games. Initially starting a new Master Chief trilogy withHalo 4and5before scrapping those plans for a soft reboot of the franchise withHalo Infinite’scampaign, some fans have grown frustrated with the franchise as it develops.Halo Infiniteespecially has seen a lot of criticism from fans and has also had multiple key developers leave the team. For example,Halo Infinite’smultiplayer lead left 343 Industriesin March of this year to take time off and relax, thankingHalofans in his goodbye tweet.Now another key developer,Halo Infinite’sHead of Design Jerry Hook, has left 343 Industries. Hook initially joined Microsoft back in 2003, working as a lead program manager for commerce and accounts on Xbox Live. Hook has described himself as an “Xbox Live founding veteran,” due to his work in the early days of the service. Later on in his career, he took on an executive producer role at 343 and is credited forwork onHalo 4andHalo 5.RELATED:Halo Infinite Announcer Jeff Steitzer Details Working at 343 IndustriesHook announced that he was leaving 343 via Twitter, where he stated that his “journey has been filled with creating new worlds, platforms and products from Xbox, Xbox Live toHalo.” Hook then thanked his colleagues and those in theHalocommunity for their consistent support. TheHalo Infinitehead of design has left Microsoft before. Back in 2015, Hook parted ways with the company to joinDestiny 2developer Bungie.
In 2018, Hook returned to Microsoft after his time at Bungie, later taking on the role asHalo Infinite’shead of design in 2019. It is unknown how Hook’s departure will affectHalo Infinite,if it will do so at all, and while there isn’t concrete knowledge of what he will work on next, Hook did tease a “new saga” via his Linkedin bio. Hook’s departure marks one of a few otherHalo Infinitedevelopers leaving 343, such as the aforementioned multiplayer lead and also the lead narrative designer, who took on a position at Riot.
Considering the constant fan criticism ofHalo Infinite, many developers have found themselves the targets of frustration. WithHalo Infinite’sSeason 2 launching, hopefully the game will be more acceptable for its fans, and they can lessen their criticism, but even343 developers are now admitting that theHalocommunity has run out of patience.
Halo Infiniteis available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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