Halo Infinitehas lost its second creative director, as Microsoft’s flagship video game franchise continues to experience development trouble.
Now-Former Director Chris Lee has confirmed that, as of today, he is no longer working onHalo Infinite.Lee oversaw the production of the title at 343 Industries, the studio developingInfinite.
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This marks the second top director to leave the project over the past two years. The highly anticipatedHaloinstallment was originally going to release in just a few weeks, as it was set to be a launch title release along with the next-generation Xbox Series X next month. Instead,Halo Infinitehas been delayed until next year, following poor fan reception to thegameplay trailer released back in July.
Lee has been with 343 Industries since 2008, a year after the studio’s inception, holding the title of partner studio head since 2016. Lee states that while stepping back from Halo Infinite, he has faith in the team to ‘finish the fight.’ “I believe in the team and am confident they will deliver a great game and now is a good time for me to step away.”
The shakeup doesn’t come entirely as a surprise, however. Just a few weeks after the initial delay announcement, Lee’s role became sidelined. This was due toHaloveteran Joseph Statenbeing brought on by Microsoft to helm the single-player campaign, and another executive, Pierre Hintze, to run multiplayer. Microsoft thanked Lee in an email statement, saying that while stepping back fromHalo Infinite,he remains an employee.
Halo Infinite’s development has been anything but smooth. In August 2019, 343 Industries lost its first creative director, Tim Longo, in addition to executive producer Mary Olson. At the time, 343 said that Chris Lee remained the leader of the game’s overall creative vision. Then came the delay after the gameplay reveal back in August of this year. Now, substantial new info about the game has become scarce, drawing criticism from fans. Despite the delay, Microsoft is expectingstrong demand for both Xbox Series consolesafter launch.
Not having the latestHalogame along with the latest Xbox is surely disappointing to a lot of fans. However, it’s not all bad news, as theXbox Series X upgrades forThe Master Chief Collectionhave been recently detailed. This should holdHalofans over untilInfinitereleases next year. Hopefully, all of the delays and changing hands will give players a game infinitely better than anything ever seen before.
Halo Infinitereleases in 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.
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