Bungie veteran Joseph Staten joins 343 to help ship Halo Infinite
Halo Infinite's developer has enlisted the help of one of the series' original creators.
Microsoft has announced, following reports, that Joseph Staten has joined Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries. Staten is already a Microsoft employee, having spent recent years working on various internal and external projects.
But he's also one of the original creators of Halo at Bungie. He contributed to the development of the original Halo games in a number of ways, including writing and world building. Staten continued to work at Bungie after the studio's split with Microsoft, overseeing the inception of Destiny, only to leave just before the game shipped.
Staten will be working alongside existing leads to see the campaign portion of the game through to the finish line.
Staten's internal move wasn't the only announced this week. Pierre Hintze, who headed up publishing duties on Halo: The Master Chief Collection, will now lead Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer mode.
According to Bloomberg, Staten and Hintze will work alongside studio head Chris Lee, and report to 343 overseer and Microsoft executive Bonnie Ross.
The news bookends a turbulent few days for 343 that followed the decision to delay Halo Infinite to 2021. Since that moment, multiple reports have come out about the state of the game's development, exploring what could have lead to Infinite's long development, and the potential for a further delay to 2022 - something the studio denied.
Halo Infinite is in development for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.
