Dan Ayoub is moving on from Halo's 343i team to work on Mixed Reality

Dan Ayoub has been involved with the Halo franchise since Halo Reach, in charge of overseeing external development on titles like Halo: Spartan Strike and Halo Wars 2 as 343i's Executive Producer.

Ayoub will henceforth be working on Windows Mixed Reality programs and features aimed at classrooms.

Today we're sad to be saying bon voyage to one of our own, as Dan Ayoub – who's worked on Halo games since Halo: Reach all the way back in 2009, bids us, and the gaming industry, a fond adieu. Dan is set to begin a new adventure within Microsoft in Mixed Reality, where he'll be pursuing one of his passions…the empowerment of education through technology. Although Dan will be staying in the Microsoft family, and won't be heading too far, our 343 family will miss his wit, wisdom and effort throughout the years. But Halo Wars 2 and its forthcoming DLC are in the safe hands of Dan's team, with some wonderful DLC and other surprises still to come.Over the years, Dan has helped us work with amazing studios and partners from literally every corner of the globe. They, like us are going to miss him, and Dan wanted us to express his thanks to both those partners, and to all the Halo fans and community who've been the fuel and fire that have ignited his passion and ambition, throughout the years.So long Dan, and don't be a stranger! 

On a personal note, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dan Ayoub on Halo Wars 2 back in October, 2016, and found his passion for development to be both infectious and inspiring. He also did an amazing job dodging my questions about the Halo movie. Kudos, Dan.

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Thankfully, Halo Wars 2's development will continue unabated, both with content drops for Blitz mode and a planned story expansion. We're also trying to lock down and confirm rumors of a version for Steam, following the success of Halo Wars Definitive Edition's launch on the platform.

Halo Wars 2

Halo Wars 2 (Image credit: Windows Central)

Halo Wars 2 is quite easily the best real-time strategy game available on Xbox One, and well worth a look for both RTS veterans and curious newcomers.

Jez Corden
Co-Managing Editor

Jez Corden is a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!