The Creative Director for Halo Infinite, Tim Longo, has left 343 Industries this week, putting the game in the hands of the studio’s head.
Tim Longo has worked with the studio for a long time, serving as the creative director for Halo 5 before moving on to lead Halo Infinite's creative team for its entire development cycle so far. Now, he has moved on from 343 Industries just over a year before Halo Infinite's Holiday 2020 release date.
As reported by Kotaku, Longo had changed roles within the company a few weeks ago before making the decision to leave. The new site also received a statement from Microsoft that confirms the Creative Director’s departure. This comes just a few days after the departure of BioWare's Lead Producer, another surprising departure for a major sci-fi property.
In the statement, Microsoft clarified a couple of role changes within the company now that Longo has moved on. First, they announced that the team’s Executive Producer Mary Olson has taken over Halo Infinite’s campaign team as the Lead Producer. She will leverage her long-time experience with the franchise to guide the team through finishing the game's main story.
As for Creative Direction, Microsoft has not announced a direct replacement for the position. They did confirm that Longo has left the company, and provided a very positive message about Longo’s contributions to the Halo franchise. According to the company, 343 Industries Studio Head Chris Lee will take the game’s creative vision to the finish line. Microsoft also made it clear in their statement that these changes will not have any impact on Halo Infinite's Holiday 2020 release date on Xbox One and Project Scarlett.
Tim Longo has served in the industry for a very long time, starting at LucasArts where he worked on Star Wars before eventually moving on to Crystal Dynamics to work on Tomb Raider games. At Crystal Dynamics, he served on the creative team that helped bring the new Lara Croft to life in the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. After that, he made the move to 343 Industries to work on the Halo franchise.
The departure doesn’t sound like it will have any ill effects on the release of the much anticipated upcoming Halo game, but with a year out, anything could happen. As for Longo, it will be exciting to see where he goes next. He has a storied history in the industry and his next move will surely mean good things for gamers. In the meantime, fans should check out Longo’s excellent podcast Dev Game Club where he and a fellow developer break down important video games from the early days of the industry.
Halo Infinite will be released on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Scarlett sometime during Holiday 2020.
Source: Kotaku