Rumour: 'Former 343 Employee' Spills The Beans On Halo Infinite's Development

Update (Sat 8th May, 2021 14:15 BST): This story was covered across the industry when it broke this past Thursday, and the former 343 Industries employee has since posted another video reportedly denying that the Halo Infinite team has been forced to crunch, highlighting that any overtime has been entirely voluntary.

According to a translation, his comment about Halo Infinite not being a masterpiece was due to fans often having unrealistic expectations - and the mention of "baggage" was due to his desire to also work on new IPs outside of Halo, although he reportedly had a genuinely good experience working at 343 Industries.

He's also told fans not to see the cut content as a negative, calling it a common industry practice.


Original story (Thu 6th May, 2021 22:00 BST): It looks like we've got some new insider details on Halo Infinite, as a former 343i employee who supposedly worked as a skybox artist on the title appears to have shed some light on the development process for the game.

In a Bilibili video translated from Mandarin by random0_point over at ResetEra, the former employee reportedly stated that he thinks the finished product will still be great, but warned fans not to expect "an epoch-making masterpiece."

"His overall feeling on Halo Infinite: 'In fact, I think the finished product will still be great. The story is a big improvement, and the gameplay is much richer, though the development cycle is too long. Don't expect it to be an epoch-making masterpiece.'

In terms of the negatives, the ex-employee was said to mention that the company executives were "overly ambitious" in their plans for Halo Infinite due to the desire to make an open-world game which required major engine changes. Additionally, various content that he and the team worked on has apparently ended up being cut "for a variety of reasons."

Finally, the former employee also reportedly highlighted that the team at 343 has been working extremely hard over the years - including overtime "until the early hours of the morning" - and he "feels good to be out of 343's baggage."

"Now he works at Certain Affinity, still doing some HI outsourcing work, and he feels good to be out of 343's baggage."

We must point out that this is a translation from ResetEra, so it might not be 100% accurate, but well-known industry insider Jason Schreier has appeared to confirm that this information aligns with what he's heard about the game.

What are your thoughts on these Halo Infinite comments? Let us know down below.

[source resetera.com, via windowscentral.com]