Former Halo writer Joseph Staten returns to work on Halo Infinite

By Brendan Lowry
published

One of Halo's mythos masterminds returns to the franchise.

Halo Infinite
Halo Infinite (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

What you need to know

  • Joseph Staten has returned to the Halo series to work on Halo Infinite as project lead for the campaign.
  • Previously, Staten worked on Bungie's Halo games as director of cinematics.
  • He currently serves as Senior Creative Director for Xbox Game Studios and has been involved in numerous projects.
  • This move is meant to provide more expertise to the development of Halo Infinite.

Recently we heard from our sources (now confirmed by the man himself) that Joseph Staten, one of the original minds behind the Halo universe, is joining with 343 Industries to work on Halo Infinite. Specifically, Staten is working as the project lead for the game's campaign.

In regards to Halo, Staten previously served as Bungie's director of cinematics and was responsible for mission scripts and cutscene dialogue in Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach. Additionally, he provided the voice for Halo 3: ODST's Superintendent as well as the Covenant's Grunt enemies — a role he took on once again in Halo 5: Guardians. Lastly, he also wrote Halo: Shadow of Intent, a short-story included in the 2015 Halo anthology book Halo: Fractures (opens in new tab).

In addition to all of his previous work on Halo, Staten has also significantly to several projects over the years while acting as the Senior Creative Director for Xbox Game Studios. Some of his recent endeavors include working on the 2016 sci-fi adventure title ReCore, contributing to the action-packed Crackdown 3, and assisting DONTNOD Entertainment with its upcoming Xbox and Windows 10 exclusive Tell Me Why.

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According to our sources, the involvement of Staten with Halo Infinite is a move meant to provide more expertise to the development of the game. Additionally, Pierre Hintze, the head of Halo: The Master Chief Collection's publishing team, is also joining the Halo Infinite team as project lead for the game's free-to-play experience.

Overall, as someone who loves a lot of what Staten has done for Halo so far, I'm excited to see what he contributes to Halo Infinite. What are your thoughts? Let me know down below.

Halo Infinite is currently expected to launch sometime in 2021 on Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and Windows 10 PCs. It was initially slated to release in the Holiday 2020 season, but it was ultimately delayed, which was a decision that we thought was the right move. If you want to play some Halo right now, though, we highly recommend Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

The next adventure in the saga

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Halo Infinite

A new Great Journey awaits

Halo Infinite is sure to be an incredible game filled with wonder, adventure, and more.

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Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Experience the entirety of Halo history

The Master Chief Collection is a collection of every Halo shooter from the pre-Xbox One era, offering incredible value at an incredible price.

Brendan Lowry
Brendan Lowry

Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. You'll find him doing reviews, editorials, and general coverage on everything Xbox and PC. Follow him on Twitter.

13 Comments
  • I'm glad he's back, but him being added so late worries me.
  • Im sure the launch campaign has already been set. Considering infinite is meant to be the 'final' halo, he might just be in charge of future campaigns.
  • If what we saw is the final Halo I guess we will experience the final Xbox too
  • I'm guessing it will go the route of games like Destiny or Monster Hunters World. It may be the last game but we will see new content, likely with new enhancements graphical or otherwise, each 'season' or DLC. Look at Grand Theft Auto V Online, they pump out stuff all the time, mostly targeting the multiplayer side of things. They aren't giving up, they are going all in. With it being on Game Pass you'll never have to pay for upgrades if you go that route. I'm speculating as much as anyone, but that's my take on this.
  • I'm hoping this is the case. Glad he's back, but hope this doesn't mean ill towards what's already been done with Infinite.
  • Isn't it a bad sign? Like how come they had to make somebody come back? Is it because they struggled to work efficiently? Why so late?
  • The bad sign is already there, it's been delayed. It's a good sign they are bringing in people to make sure it delivers on expectations.
  • Well Noone saw the TLOU2 being delayed by 4 months a bad thing.
  • Not surprising. Many of Bungie returned to Halo or MS after the Activision drama. This shouldn't be alarming, we know the game is delayed so this only means the game is becoming alot better.
  • This game must be a dumpster fire... It's incredible that Flight Simulator is the first Xbox game to have 90-something on Metacritic since maybe 2016. None of the games by The Coalition, nor by 343 have gotten more than 87.
  • https://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/forza-horizon-4
  • Oops I stand by my other points, though.
  • As Halo Infinite is a 10 year project from its release, I'd say they will be working more on content to come down the road. As opposed to any rash design changes now. At the end of the day Noone had issue with the gameplay or its story. It was purely cosmetic that the issues were from people.