Microsoft recently announced mass layoffs of around 10,000 of its employees and naturally, the fate of the Halo franchise started being questioned. But the head of 343 Industries, Pierre Hintze has now come forth saying, “Halo and Master Chief are here to stay.”
His short but direct statement also mentioned that the studio will keep developing Halo “now and in the future.” This includes “epic stories, multiplayer, and more of what makes Halo great,” the statement adds.
Last week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that the firm will lay off 10,000 employees as part of an effort to align its cost structure with its revenue. It’s uncertain how many of them will be 343 Industries employees.
However, what probably prompted this disclosure from Hintze was a Twitter thread by French Halo influencer Bathrobe Spartan. A Reset Era user translated the thread, telling us that 343 Industries might be on course to losing one-third of its workforce, including internal employees and contractors.
The thread also says that Halo Infinite missed its sales targets and that’s what has led to the studio jumping back to a “coordinating role” on the franchise rather than actively developing new games.
While all this should be taken with a grain of salt, there is no denying that Halo Infinite was met with a troubled development path. After receiving flak for its graphics during its initial gameplay reveal, the game was delayed multiple times.
Halo Infinite’s multiplayer portion was released as a free-to-play offering, while its campaign came out in December 2021 but sans a co-op mode. A number of other important aspects, including the Forge mode, were added later on.
As we said, there’s no news about the number of 343 Industries employees getting axed in the Microsoft layoffs but Hintze’s statement certainly offers some much-needed respite to worried fans.