Tag: 343 Industries - Page 2
News Xbox Research Survey Asks Fans If They Are 'Done Playing Halo Infinite'
343 guilty stark
Plenty of discussion regarding the future of Halo Infinite, and the studio behind it at 343 Industries, has been ongoing recently in the wake of mass layoffs at Microsoft. While we don't know the full details of just how badly the team has been affected by Microsoft's internal changes (there were certainly some job losses), it seems...
News New Report Suggests Restructure At Halo Dev 343 Industries Is 'Ongoing'
The team says it will continue to work on the franchise
As a result of Microsoft's recent round of layoffs, Halo developer 343 Industries has been hit with a number of job losses in what sounds like a fairly major restructuring of the company moving forward. The team has since put out a statement to
News Halo Infinite Campaign DLC Reportedly 'Never Existed', Multiplayer Live Service The Focus
Fireteams at the ready
Prior to 343 Industries' recent statement regarding the future of the Halo series, rumours were swirling that the team had scaled back its Halo Infinite post-launch plans following a series of layoffs over at Microsoft. However, new reports are suggesting those rumours were false, and that 343's DLC plans were being...
News 343 Industries Unveils Official Statement On The Future Of Halo
"Halo and Master Chief are here to stay"
It's been a rough week for Halo developer 343 Industries, with reports suggesting that the studio had been hit particularly hard by the recent layoffs at Microsoft, and speculation that Halo might even be passed to another team outside of 343i in the future. Well, that's not going to happen. Today, 343...
News Halo's Joe Staten Provides Update Following 343 & Microsoft Layoffs
"I’m 100% focused on helping people who lost their jobs"
It's been a bit of a wild week for Microsoft so far, with the company announcing it would be cutting 10,000 jobs. This has also surprisingly hit the Xbox division within the tech giant - including Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries. Apart from layoffs, it was announced that Halo...
Talking Point Should Microsoft & 343 Carry On With Halo Infinite?
What's next?
Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed its plans for roughly 10,000 layoffs throughout the company, with Halo developer 343 Industries reportedly "hit hard" by the job losses. While the company restructure hasn't been fully detailed by Microsoft, and some of what's coming out regarding 343i are just reports right now, the whole situation does...
News Former Halo Developer Blames 'Incompetent Leadership' For Layoffs At 343 Industries
"The layoffs shouldn't have happened"
Yesterday brought us the news that Microsoft was laying off 10,000 people across its workforce, and early reports suggested that Halo developer 343 Industries had been hit quite badly as a result of the layoffs. Since then, we've seen numerous Xbox and Bethesda employees take to social media to confirm their...
Report 343 Industries 'Hit Hard' By This Week's Job Cuts At Microsoft
Joe Staten is apparently leaving the studio as well
Earlier today, Microsoft confirmed that plans were in place to reduce the company's workforce by 10,000 jobs, and it appears as though Halo developer 343 Industries is one of the studios that has suffered quite heavily as a result. According to early reports from Jason Schreier of Bloomberg,...
News Halo Infinite Season 3 Content Shown Off In Latest 343i Livestream
New maps, weapons, armor cores and more!
Halo Infinite has seen some major updates in recent weeks, especially with Forge's arrival in early November. The expansive toolset's addition to Infinite was quickly followed up by a brand-new custom game server browser for players to enjoy, and now, the team is pivoting towards what's coming during Season...
News 343 Industries: 'Bigger Things To Come' For Halo Infinite In 2023
"We can't wait to turn this corner with you all"
Well, the Halo Infinite Winter Update is finally here, marking the game's largest content drop since launch around a year ago. The update is packed with goodies like online campaign co-op, Forge mode, a
News Halo Infinite 'Fell Short' After Launch And Needs To 'Recover', Admits Xbox Studio Head
"We just fell short on the plan..."
It's no secret at this point that Halo Infinite has suffered a rough time ever since its release back in late 2021. The actual launch was great, and we had brilliant things to say in our review, but the post-launch momentum just wasn't there for 343 Industries, and players have suffered from a lack of regular new...
News Phil Spencer & Co. Show Their Support At Halo World Championship Event
"Amazing to see all the energy at this event"
Over this past weekend, the Halo World Championship final has been taking place in Seattle, which has provided the opportunity for some of the most prominent Team Xbox members to attend, given its relatively close proximity to Xbox HQ. One of those members is the Xbox boss himself, Phil Spencer, who has...
News Halo & F1 Partnership Spawns Amazing Master Chief-Inspired Helmet
HCS and Quadrant team up
British Formula One rep Lando Norris, who is currently racing with McLaren, has unveiled his very own Halo Master Chief style helmet. The racer will be wearing it at the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix, taking place this coming weekend. Lando has always been a fan of the Halo series, mentioning in an interview on social media...
News Digital Foundry Says Halo Infinite Split-Screen Is 'Excellent', 343 Declines To Comment
"It's a brilliant way to play the game"
You may recall that a couple of weeks ago, Halo fans found a way to get local split-screen working in the campaign of Halo Infinite, and the most bizarre thing of all was that it was working really well, despite having been cancelled. Well, our friends over at
News Microsoft Announces 343 Industries Leadership Team Restructure
Pierre Hintze is the new studio head
Yesterday, the Xbox and Halo community got some "shock news" - with Head of 343 Industries Bonnie Ross announcing she would be leaving the studio (as well as Microsoft) due to a family medical issue. In case you missed it, her replacement will be Head of Production Pierre Hintze. Hintze is an industry veteran...
News Bonnie Ross, The Head Of Halo, Is Leaving 343 Industries And Microsoft
"I will be leaving and attending to a family medical issue"
We've got some shock news to share today, as the Head of 343 Industries Bonnie Ross has announced she's leaving the company - as well as Microsoft - and will be "attending to a family medical issue" following her departure. Ross shared a message to Halo's fans on Twitter earlier today,...
News Halo Infinite Review-Bombed On Steam After Recent Developer Update
The news hasn't gone down well
It's no secret that the fan reaction to Halo Infinite's most recent developer update hasn't been very positive. The news that seems to have caused the biggest stir is 343's decision to drop development on local split screen co-op, a feature that's been in the works in some fashion since launch. Sadly, these...
News Halo Infinite's Free 'The Yappening' Event Is Now Live On Xbox
Yapyap is backback
At the tail end of August, 343 Industries started to tease its latest free event - one relating to Halo Wars 2's 'Yapyap the Destroyer'. After that sneak peek, the event is now live in Halo Infinite, featuring a free 10-tier Battle Pass, a bunch of new modes, and more. As usual, the Event Pass features a selection of rewards from...
News Halo Infinite Players Discover Split-Screen Exploit On Xbox Series X|S
"It runs at 60fps even with four players"
Some Halo Infinite fans were left disappointed last week when 343 Industries announced it was cancelling development of a local split-screen co-op feature for campaign mode, which has led some players to take matters into their own hands! Basically, there's a way to actually glitch into split-screen co-op...
Reaction Can 343 Industries Deliver On What's Right For Halo?
A decade after its first attempt
With Halo Infinite's latest feature cancellation, and the expected backlash that's followed, we're left wondering about the future of Xbox's flagship IP. Halo has long been the poster child for Xbox - heck, Infinite was supposed to celebrate the series' 20th anniversary in style following the game's delay from 2020...
News Halo Infinite Local Campaign Co-Op Has Been Cancelled
"In order to improve and accelerate ongoing live service development"
343 Industries has unveiled what's coming to Halo Infinite in Season 3 and beyond, with a fairly substantial roadmap and dev diary laying everything out for the coming months. Sadly, tucked in here is the news that local split-screen co-op has been unfortunately cancelled. The...
News 343 Reveals What's Coming To Halo Infinite In Late 2022 & Early 2023
The latest roadmap has been released!
343 Industries has today pulled back the curtain on what's coming to Halo Infinite in the late part of 2022 and all the way up to June of 2023, and there's a fair bit to unpack, so let's take a quick look! Firstly, Forge mode is finally launching in Beta form on November 8th, and onlin
News Halo Infinite's Battle Royale-Lite, Last Spartan Standing, Is Leaving Matchmaking
Making way for Team Doubles
For Halo Infinite's second season, developer 343 Industries introduced 'Last Spartan Standing', a sort of Gun Game/Battle Royale mashup that provided quite a different experience to the rest of the multiplayer suite. Well, a few months later and the mode is already being rotated out of the matchmaking pool. The team will...
News Halo Infinite Engineer 'Amazed' At Forge Mode Feature
"I'm still amazed we pulled it off"
Halo Infinite Forge leaks have been plastered all over the web in recent weeks, ahead of the mode's proper launch later this year. These have covered a wide range of player creations, from Silent Hill-esque horror modes to maps with alternate weather effects, and more. And it seems some of the
News Halo Infinite Received 'Significant' Open World Changes During Development
Sparsetan
It's no secret that, by launch, Halo Infinite's development became somewhat troubled. The year-long delay from late 2020 to the following year proved as much, along with the slow rollout of post-launch content since. Even with that in mind, it seems like 343 had to perform quite a few nips and tucks to get the game out the door. Some...
News Halo Infinite Art Director Leaves 343 After Near 15-Year Career At Xbox
New horizons
One of the core developers on Halo Infinite is moving on this year, following a mammoth career at the Xbox-owned studio. Art Director on various Halo projects including Infinite, 'Sparth' (real name Nicolas Bouvier) has announced their departure shortly after Infinite's launch, which finally arrived late last year. The well-known...
News Halo Infinite Forge Mode Leaks Show Flashy Weather & Day/Night Effects
Packed with features both new and old, at least in testing
A lot of us have been waiting to see what 343 Industries is cooking up with Halo Infinite's Forge mode. The team has been fairly tight-lipped on the feature so far, other than the fact that they're aiming for a full public launch during Season 3. Ahead of flighting (beta testing) — which...
News 343 Developer Shares 'Halo VR' Concepts From 2017
This would be awesome!
It's no secret that Xbox has continued to shy away from VR in recent years, with Phil Spencer even publicly stating that there are no plans for the tech on the platform at present. However, that doesn't seem to have stopped past VR projects being worked on at Xbox studios, even if they never came to market. One such project...
News Bungie Designer Shows Off Awesome Halo 5 & Halo Infinite UI Concepts
These look epic!
Games go through masses and masses of concept phases, especially huge AAA projects like, you know, launching a mainline Halo title. Well, Bungie designer Jeff Christy has shared some concepts from their time working on Halo 5 and Halo Infinite, and some of these look quite different to the final products! First up, Halo 5. The team...
News Halo Infinite Dev Provides Detailed Response To De-Sync Issues
"It is high on our priority of fixes"
Halo Infinite hasn't been short on controversy both before and after launch, with online player de-sync being a common complaint (among lots of other things) within the community. Well, one developer has decided to brave Reddit to update fans on what's happening in that regard, and it's safe to say the response...
News Halo Infinite Nameplate Changed Due To 'Offensive And Hurtful' Term
"The team immediately addressed this issue via an update"
As part of Halo Infinite's Juneteenth Celebrations (an event to commemorate the freeing of enslaved African-Americans) developer 343 Industries added some new cosmetic items to the game's multiplayer. It was soon discovered that one of these items — a nameplate palette option — was titled...
News Halo Infinite Level Re-Created In Unreal Engine 5
It looks stunning!
In the lead up to launch we must have watched Halo Infinite gameplay about a thousand times. Well, not literally, but you know, we were pretty familiar with that sprawling introduction to Zeta Halo by the time the game actually came out. Now, a sole developer has re-created those scenes in Unreal Engine 5, and the results are...
News Digital Foundry Looks At Halo Infinite's Ongoing Issues
Some fixed, some not
Halo Infinite has finally shifted into Season 2, bringing new multiplayer content and a suite of other fixes and changes. Some of these fixes relate to core issues that remained from launch, and while some have now been sorted with the season 2 patch, others still remain. A new video analysis by Digital Foundry looks at some...
News Halo Infinite Lead Dev Hints At Classic Maps Returning
"I think it'd be awesome to play on those maps again"
As Halo Infinite Season 2 is being stretched out over the course of six months or so, many fans are wondering what content will fill out that gap. Naturally, the conversation leads to the return of classic maps; a question which Kinda Funny host Parris Lilly recently put to 343's Joseph Staten on...
News Halo Infinite Dev: 'None Of Us Inside Of 343 Look At This Roadmap And Are Happy With It'
A stark admission from the developer
Halo Infinite Season 2 is right around the corner, bringing the game's first major post-launch content drop. So, that should be a time of celebration and positivity, right? Well, not exactly. Though there has been some disgruntlement in the community about Season 2, this particular slice of negativity isn't even...
News 343 Explains Lack Of Communication Over Halo Infinite Season 2
"It's challenging to always be constantly open and transparent with fans"
Things are finally starting to ramp up in relation to Halo Infinite Season 2, after a quiet few months. Developer 343 is "very excited" to showcase season 2 content, however, Halo vet and Head of Creative Joseph Staten has discussed why the team isn't always as transparent as...
News 343 'Very Excited' To Unleash New Halo Infinite Multiplayer Content
New maps, modes, features and more...
Halo Infinite multiplayer got off to a strong start but has also come under fire from some members of the Halo community for providing enough content. Earlier this month, developer 343 Industries shared an update - explaining how more was on the way in season 2, arriving this May. There are expected to be new...
News 343 Industries Wasn't 'Proud Of' Halo Infinite Before Delay
"This isn’t a game we’re going to be proud of"
We all remember Halo Infinite's infamous gameplay showcase in the summer of 2020. It's safe to say the reveal didn't go down well with fans; the game's graphics were basically turned into a meme. As it turns out, 343 knew Halo Infinite was behind schedule and had to admit that before asking for a...
Roundup Here's What The Critics Are Saying About The Halo TV Show
Two episodes in
Episodes 1 and 2 of the new Halo TV show are out soon on Paramount Plus, but the critics have weighed in early, looking at how things are shaping up thus far. We're pretty intrigued by this one, given how long the TV show has been in development. Well, after the lengthy wait, impressions are finally here! The series will launch...
Soapbox Live Service Expectations Are The Issue, Not Halo Infinite
All we need is just a little patience
Halo Infinite finally launched late last year, after a protracted development period. The game's launch reception was fantastic with many, including us, lauding 343's gameplay improvements that struck a lovely balance between classic Halo and modern, contemporary shooters. However, that honeymoon period now...
News 343's January Roadmap Update For Halo Infinite Also Misses February
When will we hear more?
So, around Halo Infinite's initial multiplayer launch in November last year, 343 said it had plans to announce a seasonal roadmap in January. January came and went without a roadmap, so 343 subsequently delayed any roadmap plans. Fast forward a month or so later, and we've still not had an update on that delay. Sure, there...
News 343 Industries Can't Replace Halo Infinite XP Boosts Lost During Server Outages
Developer says it doesn't have the ability to fix issue
Halo Infinite's excellent multiplayer suite has generally been going down a storm with players since the game launched back in November of 2021. However, there have also been some widely reported issues with how the mode's Battle Pass progression system works, the pace at which gamers earn XP...
Poll Which Xbox 360 Era Halo Game Are You Playing This Week?
Goodnight Sweet Prince
All good things must come to an end, unfortunately. Today, that's true of Xbox 360 era Halo, at least the online multiplayer anyway. 343 Industries is closing down matchmaking across Halo 3, Halo: Reach and Halo 4 today, January 13th, in order to focus on more modern Halo titles. So, we're spending a bi
Random Halo 3 Players Band Together To Earn Final Achievement Before Servers Close
The final countdown
The Halo games on Xbox 360 will see their servers (mostly) closed for good this week. That's right, 343 Industries is sunsetting Xbox 360 era Halo on January 13th, in favour of supporting The Master Chief Collection. However, that hasn't stopped a squad of Spartans banding together for what may be the final time. As spotted by...
News 343 Industries 'Optimistic' On Halo Infinite BTB Fix In Upcoming Patch
Cheating issues also being worked on
It looks like our hopes and prayers for a proper fix for Halo Infinite's Big Team Battle issues are finally being answered. Halo Community Director at 343 Industries, Brian Jarrard (AKA Sketch) took to the Halo Waypoint forums to talk over what's coming in Infinite's next patch. The team is confident it has a...
News Halo Infinite Dev Reveals The 'Huge Pressure' Of Delaying The Game From 2020 To 2021
"It was 100% a player-first decision"
343 Industries head of creative Joseph Staten has been conducting a few interviews over the past week following the launch of Halo Infinite's multiplayer, and he's spoken a bit more about the decision to delay the game in 2020. As you may well recall, Halo Infinite was originally intended to release alongside...
News 343 Celebrates Halo's 20th Anniversary With Absolutely Stunning 4K Artwork
"Here’s to finishing even more fights!"
As you might have already heard, this year marks Xbox's 20th anniversary. While the big date is actually 14th November 2021, Microsoft has decided to kick celebrations off early. Halo also turns 20 years old this year, and 343 Industries is joining in on the fun. To highlight the great journey the Halo...
Gallery 343 Shows Off New Halo Infinite Concept Art
Introducing the Razorback...
To help pass the time until the release of Halo Infinite for Xbox and PC, 343 Industries has been sharing teaser artwork and screenshots. In the latest update on Halo Waypoint, we've got a look at Razorback and some "Brute brothers" you'll likely run across. The Razorback is described as the Warthog's more spacious and...
News 343 Announces Halo: Point Of Light, A New Novel Arriving In March 2021
The follow-up to Smoke & Shadow and Renegades
Over on the official Halo Waypoint website, 343 has revealed a new novel by Kelly Gay. It's a follow-up to Halo: Smoke & Shadow and Halo: Renegades, and is officially titled Halo: Point of Light. Here's a bit about it - with the events reportedly taking place a month before Halo 5: Guardians. It's...
News Sperasoft Is Assisting 343 With The Development Of Halo Infinite
Backup is here, Chief
Phil Spencer has made it quite clear at this point that Halo Infinite will be shipping with the Xbox Series X this holiday season. To ensure the Master Chief arrives on time, 343 Industries has called on the assistance of various developers outside of Microsoft. One happens to be Sperasoft, which specialises in co-development...
