Following the layoffs at Microsoft, the company's Halo Infinite development is rumored to remain unchanged at 343 Industries. The announcement left many fans wondering what the future of Halo Infinite would look like, considering 343 Industries was among the main affected divisions inside the tech giant. Now it appears there may be some clarity on the franchise's future.Earlier this week Microsoft announced that it was laying off 10,000 jobs, across various sectors including Xbox, 343, Bethesda, and a few others in a bid to trim the company's expenses and adjust for the coming year. Following the news, it was revealed that Halo Infinite's Director Joe Staten was also leaving 343 and that the studio's campaign team was going to restructure. Back in 2020, Staten was specifically brought on to 343 to head Halo Infinite, though his departure after two years may not bode well for the studio. However, one notable insider claims this might not be the case for the Halo franchise in general.According to Bathrobe Spartan, a known insider, Halo Infinite's 2023 roadmap will reportedly remain unchanged despite the layoff news. Spartan's lengthy Twitter thread points out that the majority of the departures from 343's creative and narrative content teams are due to the "divergent visions" inside the studio. This is referring to 343's prioritization of live-service elements as opposed to the challenges of developing solo content and sustainable monetization options for the studio, the insider claims. Nevertheless, Spartan further mentions that some of 343's existing Halo Infinite projects with other studios will continue including the Forge with Skybox Labs, maps and content with Sperasoft, as well as modes and elements co-developed with Certain Affinity.
At this point, it's unclear how 343 will approach narrative solo content for Halo in the coming future as the studio is yet to reveal concrete plans after the layoffs. On the other hand, this could mean that the long-rumored Halo Infinite battle royale mode could become a reality, considering how the current strategy points to a possible focus on the game's multiplayer elements.
Bathrobe Spartan also states that 343's future with the series would come down to two focal points, to coordinate the follow-up to Halo Infinite and to possibly franchise the Halo license to other studios. Time will tell if any of these speculations will turn into reality. But how things will pan out beyond 2023 remains to be seen and a lot of it would depend on Microsoft's own long-term vision for its gaming future with 343. Though some fans take issue with this considering Microsoft is planning to foot a $68.7 billion bill to acquire Activision Blizzard while trimming its operations around Halo development, its own flagship product that made Xbox a success decades ago.
Halo Infinite is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.