343 Industries, a studio known for the Halo game series, is one of the studios particularly affected by the waves of layoffs at Microsoft. About sixty employees out of the 450 who made up the studio were dismissed. The most affected part of the studio is that dedicated to single-player games.
Faced with the concerns of the players, the studio wants to be reassuring: the layoffs will not influence the next releases linked to the license. Halo :
« Halo and Master Chief are not going to be left out. 343 Industries will continue to develop Halo now and in the future, with epic stories, multiplayer, including everything that makes Halo outstanding. – text published on the official social networks of the studio
However, it is difficult not to worry about the situation of this studio specifically, since these mass layoffs follow the departure of various developers who had long been assigned to strategic positions in the company.
These departures had already been a problem during the development of Halo Infinite, the situation is not going to get better. Last September it was Bonnie Rossfounder of the studio, who was leaving for personal reasons, and David Bergertechnical director on Halo Infinitewho were leaving the studio.
Several affected developers have spoken out about the studio’s decisions, with criticisms dating all the way back to the release of Halo Infinite. Patrick Wrenwho worked on the development of the multiplayer mode of Halo InfiniteExplain :
“Layoffs at 343 should not have happened, and Halo Infinite should be much better. In both cases, the reason can be sought in the incompetent leadership up there during the development of Halo Infinitecausing significant stress on those who work hard to make Halo the best game it can be. » @Witdarkstar (Patrick Wren), January 19, 2023
In the same way, Tyler Owensdeveloper at 343 Industries during the development of Halo 5now a developer at Respawn on Apex Legendscriticizes the way the studio manages its staff:
“Between the contract policies they abuse in order to get a tax advantage and layoffs in the face of gigantic profits…they vow Halo to failure. — @heytred (Tyler Owens), January 18, 2023
Phil Spencerthe head of Microsoft’s video games sector, spoke yesterday in an e-mail about the layoffs in his sector, explaining that they were “tough choices”, but that they “placed [le secteur] on the path to lasting success for their products. While acknowledging the difficult consequences for the individuals involved.
These dismissals are part of a large-scale decision in Microsoft, and it is difficult to assess the place that the video game takes in the decision, as well as the consequences that this will have on the releases. Still, as far as 343 Industries is concerned, concerns about the Halo license, and the developers working on it, can only be exacerbated by the situation. If it is certain that the results of Halo Infinitethe latest installment of Microsoft’s flagship license, may disappoint, but only to destabilize a studio already weakened by the successive departures of different pillars.