Halo Infinite Director Chris Lee Departs The Project

What the hell is going on at 343?

Yeah I thought some shake ups would come out of the delay. Glad it seems he took the initiative rather than wait for the push. I wouldn't be surprised if more left closer/after launch.

Really hope this game delivers for long time fans. Seems like it's a bit of a mess over there at 343 but hopefully they can turn out a terrific experience!

Considering we were supposed to be playing this in a few weeks, was there much for the director to actually do at this point?

His departure isn't necessarily a bad sign. Most of a director's work is done, since they are presumably focused more on technical challenges than creative challenges now.

The problem with 343 Industries is the management team. It's not usual that the director leaves the project and that they need to recruit former Bungie employees after a long delay. Please, fix the studio in charge of Halo.

Well this game is in much more trouble then they said... I doubt it’ll be out for quite sometime if ever. Be fascinating to know the issues it’s had, behind the scenes.

This game is doomed

I am guessing that “stepping away” means that “I got canned from the project because of the massive delay & Microsoft is not happy about it”.

They should just put Staton in charge & let him do his thing.

Just buy Bungie and let them sort it out!! LOL

Halo Infinite is shaping up to be in the same box as Duke Nukem Forever... Where the games name accurately sums up the development process.
I love Halo but I just can't see this game turning out to be good... Delays are for the best here but every warning sign possible is unfortunately being given off by this game.
Rather Microsoft did what Nintendo did with Metroid Prime 4, cancel and start from scratch entirely. Thereby allaying fears in the process.

@pip_muzz I think that the game will be great because they're fixing it and it wouldn't be wise to start from scratch here, the game is already huge and it looks fun. This is more of a lesson for the future of the studio.

@BlueOcean

I agree. People need to calm down on the Halo: Infinite hate. I have been playing Halo since the OG Xbox & the gameplay that they showed off looked like a blast to me.

This director has probably been done with his part of the project for a bit now, so hence why he is “leaving” (or was told to leave).

Halo: Infinite looked fun in the demo. It just lacked visual polish. Of course, we only saw a sliver of the game. Digital Foundry said lighting was a major reason it didn't look ready. Aside from that, I thought it just needed more details and fluff in the environment.

@BAMozzy If only it were that simple. I feel the only way to get Halo back to how it once was when Bungie was at the helm is to get them back making Halo again. Let’s be honest the Halo games are much better than Destiny, so I wished they were open to joining Xbox Game Studios and get back to making the game that made them the company they are today.

I’m still looking forward to Infinite and liking what 343i are doing with it but I just know Bungie would make it a better game.

I'm not sure if this is good news or bad news.
I hope the game is out next year at the latest - 5 years in development and still not released - that is inexcusable.

@MaccaMUFC

Bungie is never coming back to Halo. And most of the people that worked on Halo are no longer even working at Bungie anyways.

@KelticDevil Indeed. Even if there's something wrong with the studio's management, even if Halo Infinite needs to be polished, it doesn't mean that the game needs to be discarded. I'm sure that Halo Infinite will be great and will receive critical acclaim.

@MaccaMUFC I don't disagree but I think Destiny is a different game. By design, if you want a compelling and deep Single Player campaign, Halo wins - even 343 Halo wins but thats not what Destiny is. If you look at the actually fundamental game-play, its actually better - whether you like the 'super' based mechanic again may well push your preference one way or another, but the fundamental game-play is stronger and its still the 'best' example of this type of 'game'.

Personally, If they had crafted a single player story driven campaign, it would probably be considered a MUCH better game than Halo but because its built around a co-op, loot driven experience with story missions built around replayability for end game content, literally like a mini strike with a bit of narrative thrown in, its considered bad by all those who prefer to play solo and wanted a traditional story driven linear campaign.

I am not denying that it is 'worse' if that's what you prefer or wanted, but I tend to think its 'different' but in terms of game-play, environments, atmosphere etc, its better. Raids too have been some of the best gaming experiences I have had with friends and even MP maps, weapons etc are more fun and creative.

I would love Bungie to come back to Halo and feel like 343 are on their final chance with me to actually make a Halo game to Match up to Bungies Halo games. The tech demo they showed met with a lot of hype and anticipation, a return to what Halo was but it seems 343 took that to mean they wanted the game to look like it did on 360 era as well so did away with the 'next gen' look when people wanted a 'next gen' Halo that captures the essence of Bungies epic games...

They seem clueless!!!

Given the timing, I think he was contracted to work until the deadline they had to go gold, which would have been around now.

So his contract has ended and he doesn't want to stay in whatever shishow is going on there.

This is good news. Out with the old, in with the new (people that can get the job done better). Plus the director's job is pretty much done as the bulk of the game is obviously complete if they initially planned on launching it next month. I will not be surprised if we see an article like this for Bonnie Ross soon. With new people like Joseph Staten coming in we will only see better results with this game as time goes.

Reports are showing this was one of those step back or be let go kind of things.no different then any executive "leaving during an issue to persue other options"
As the reception to the announcement is on him.