What you need to know
- 343 Industries is working on Halo Infinite at the moment.
- The game is scheduled to release in Holiday 2020.
- The game's Creative Director Tim Longo just left the company.
- Executive Producer Mary Olson took over the campaign's development.
There are a lot of changes happening at 343 Industries it seems. Instead of relying on the linear formula of past entries, Halo Infinite's focus appears to be emergent encounters and more exploration. According to the Studio Head Bonnie Ross, it's a "spiritual reboot" of the franchise. In an effort to provide fans with a new experience, it seems that there have been some personnel changes at 343 Industries.
According to a report by Kotaku, Tim Longo, the Creative Director for Halo Infinite, has left the company. The report added that it's "part of a leadership shakeup." Longo was the Creative Director of Halo 5: Guardians which was lauded for its multiplayer but panned for its campaign. Apparently, Executive Producer Mary Olson took over the campaign's development a few weeks ago. Kotaku reached out to Microsoft to confirm Longo's departure and a spokesperson said the following.
Roles and responsibilities of various team members regularly evolve to meet the needs of a game, throughout development. We have recently had two changes to the Halo Infinite development team. Our Executive Producer, Mary Olson will now take charge of the Campaign team on Halo Infinite as the Lead Producer, utilizing her many years of experience at 343 Industries to help craft a great campaign for fans. Additionally, Tim Longo has recently departed our team and we are truly thankful for his many contributions to our games, our studio, and the Halo universe... The overall creative vision and production of the game... led by Chris Lee, Studio Head of Halo Infinite... These changes have no impact to the release date for Halo Infinite.
Hopefully, this won't have an impact on development. Since Halo Infinite is scheduled to launch in Holiday 2020, if there are delays, the next year should negate them. Olson is an industry veteran, so the project is in more than capable hands. She's worked at Sony Interactive Entertainment and other companies in the past.
Just like all Microsoft exclusives, Halo Infinite will be a part of Xbox Game Pass when the title launches at the end of next year. You can either get Xbox Game Pass for $10 a month or bundle it with Xbox Live Gold for $15 a month.
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