“The heart and soul of Halo at 343 Industries” for Phil Spencer | Xbox One
During the interview of Phil Spencer published by IGN, many topics were discussed, such as 2022 being poor for Xbox only, horizon 2023 or the recent layoffs at Microsoft. But the Xbox boss also touched on the situation at 343 Industries and various rumors about the future of the Halo license.
Phil Spencer trusts 343 Industries
The 343 Industries studio was hit hard by the wave of layoffs at Microsoft. Very quickly, several rumors surfaced suggesting major changes to the studio and its management of the Halo license, prompting teams to speak out. While the studio’s statement did not outright deny the rumors, Phil Spencer was asked if he could clarify the situation regarding 343’s future role.
The Xbox boss begins by saying that he doesn’t want to downplay the fact that the studio did “a really good job of delivering a great Halo game” with Halo Infinite.
Despite everything, he admits to “a few missteps” and not achieving certain goals, but he has a lot of faith in the team:
When we launched this game, we knew we had to make a commitment to people about content updates, the timing and quality of those updates, and we fell short of our goal in that regard. . I believe in the local team, Pierre and the board and their plan. It’s clear that Pierre Hintze, currently head of the studio, has been working on Halo for a long time. Worked on Halo: The Master Chief Collection, good job. The team has a very good plan.
“The Heart and Soul of Halo in 343”
Now, he said he wants to make sure the management team has the flexibility to come up with the plan they need, and that Halo remains “critically important” to what Xbox does, while 343 is critical. license.
As for the rumors of foreign studios, he revealed that this is part of development, but that “the heart and soul of Halo is in 343” and that he has great faith in the management team:
When it comes to supporting studios and stuff, that’s part of the development and help from other partners. But the heart and soul of Halo is in 343 and the team there, and I have great faith in the team running it and their plans for the future.
No Exact Answer for Halo Infinite’s Story Content
Among the things that have received strong reactions from gamers is the fact that 343 Industries currently has no single-player story content planned for Halo Infinite or the franchise in general.
When asked about the future of Halo Infinite, a potential 10-year support and new story-related content, the Xbox boss remained rather vague:
I’ll let 343 talk about their plans right now, people know there’s another season coming up and they’re excited about it. They have other things, some revealed, some assumed they would be working on. They are excited about the future. I look at the work they’ve done on Forge, for example, and the incredible support we’ve had from the creators there. The timeline for Halo… Halo will always be part of Xbox history in my opinion, part of the foundation of Xbox.
I look forward to continuing to support and develop Halo as long as Xbox is a gaming platform for people. So I think the timeline is moving forward with Xbox and I want to make sure the team is ready to succeed in that area.
Everyone will obviously draw the conclusions they want from the Xbox boss’s statements. Either way, it looks like Phil Spencer is confident about the future of the Halo license, and we hope it can regain its luster in the coming years.
Halo Infinite is now playable on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC; it is available on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, while its multiplayer is free-to-play on various platforms.
Remember that the second event of the Winter Update, Joint Fire, is in full swing right now, and you have plenty of rewards to collect until January 31st.
