Halo Infinite has 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 on Halo Infinite. Lee oversaw the production of the title at 343 Industries, the studio developing Infinite.
This marks the second top director to leave the project over the past two years. The highly anticipated Halo installment 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 Infinite has been delayed until next year, following poor fan reception to the gameplay 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 to Halo veteran Joseph Staten being 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 from Halo 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 expecting strong demand for both Xbox Series consoles after launch.
Not having the latest Halo game along with the latest Xbox is surely disappointing to a lot of fans. However, it's not all bad news, as the Xbox Series X upgrades for The Master Chief Collection have been recently detailed. This should hold Halo fans over until Infinite releases next year. Hopefully, all of the delays and changing hands will give players a game infinitely better than anything ever seen before.
Halo Infinite releases in 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Bloomberg