Joseph Staten moved from 343 Industries to Microsoft not so long ago, but his stay there was short, as he had already left Redmond.

Staten previously held a writing position at Bungie. He left the studio during the somewhat troubled development of Destiny before moving on to Microsoft in early 2014. There, he helped Xbox Game Studios publish several games. In 2020, after seeing Halo Infinite for the first time (and in a dubious state), he joined 343 Industries as creative lead on Halo Infinite, overseeing the game’s development. Regarding him, Microsoft confirmed to IGN that Staten is no longer with them. He also confirmed it on Twitter.

Halo Infinite was released at the end of 2021 for Xbox Series, Xbox One, and PC. Still, the initial joy quickly waned as the game’s first year (as a live service product) was not a good one: it didn’t expand in content as Microsoft and 343 Industries wanted, and by the time Master Chief was able to get his feet wet in the new Halo, news broke that Microsoft was laying off ten thousand employees, and the game development studio was also affected by the significant cutbacks. Staten then decided to leave 343 to continue his work on the Xbox release… but that didn’t last long!

“We’re grateful for Joseph’s contributions to the Halo franchise and Xbox. We wish him all the best in his new adventure,” Microsoft said in a statement to IGN. And in March, a 343 employee wrote: “The layoffs at 343 shouldn’t have happened, and Halo Infinite should be in a better state. The reason for both is incompetent leadership up top during Halo Infinite development, causing massive stress on those working hard to make Halo the best it can be.”

Reportedly, the cuts have mainly affected the team working on Halo Infinite’s story mode. With 343 Industries’ senior management also being replaced, it’s no wonder plans for story DLCs are dead. Given that Staten was working heavily on Halo’s narrative, that may be why he left…

Source: PCGamer