Halo Infinite has had its fair share of challenges since its launch last year. While there have been many criticisms leveled at the delivery of post-launch content for the title. This criticism boiled over recently with the most recent roadmap of the game, which saw features like campaign co-op get pushed back to later this year. As well as the cancellation of the split-screen campaign co-op which had been promised before.
There has been passionate debate amongst fans and media about what the future would hold for Halo as well as 343 Industries. With the departure of 343 Industries studio head Bonnie Ross this week, there are no doubt big changes coming to the studio. However, it appears more senior management will depart the studio in the coming weeks.
Big Changes Coming To 343 Industries
Two sources, who wish to remain anonymous, have provided correlating stories revealing to Lords Of Gaming that David Berger, the Director of Engineering at 343 Industries, will depart the company. Berger has been the Director of Engineering at 343 Industries since early 2008. His departure marks another long-time member of 343 Industries leaving the team. While it has not been revealed where Berger will be departing, we will likely hear more about his next steps in the coming weeks.
This continues the trend of 343 losing its senior talent, and points to what possibly could be management reshuffling within the studio. We saw Chris Lee Head of FPS development resign from 343 in 2020 for reasons that were not disclosed at the time. Lee simply stated that “I believe in the team and am confident they will deliver a great game and now is a good time for me to step away.” This generic PR response left many people scratching their heads at the time. Even now we do not understand 100% of what led to Lee resigning.
More recently with the departure of Bonnie Ross who left 343 due to a family medical emergency, she even noted that her time with 343 was limited. Stating that she had hoped to stay with the team until the release of the Winter Update. But due to the emergency, she had to depart now. 343 seems to be pushing forward with a new management team while having veterans like Joesph Staten and the new head of live services, Sean Baron, be the face of the studio.
While it is hard to tell what the future may hold for 343 Industries and Halo Infinite. What I will say is as a fan of Halo I wish Berger and Ross all the best in their future endeavors. I hope that 343 Industries can come together and make Halo Infinite a turnaround success like many other live service games that have struggled out the gate.
