- Are You Ready to Fight for Democracy Xbox Citizens? Good, Because Helldivers 2 is Set to Hit Xbox, Thanks to Some Diligent Halo Infinite Modders FandomWire
- Helldivers 2’s Xbox Release Status Sparks Frustration Among Gaming Community The Direct
- Helldivers 2 isn’t on Xbox, but this Halo Infinite mode built in Forge could be the next best thing: “A near flawless Halo PvE experience” Windows Central
- “It’s a great game”: Phil Spencer Calling Out Sony for Not Letting Xbox Have Helldivers 2 Proves PlayStation is Now the Bad Guy in Console Wars FandomWire
- Why Helldivers 2 is Not on Xbox? Sony’s Refusal to End Console Wars Explained IMDb
Tag Archives: Infinite
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Halo Infinite: 343’s Statement Runs Against Deep Cuts in Halo Development Team
Halo developer 343 Industries says Master Chief and Cortana are staying under its roof, but reports of deep cuts to Halo’s development staff calls into question the studio’s ability to sustainably develop future Halo content.
This saga began last week, when we learned that the Halo studio was impacted by Microsoft’s plans to lay off 10,000 people. Since the news broke, speculation has run rampant about Microsoft’s plans for its flagship franchise, including rumors that Microsoft could pass Halo development to another studio entirely, leaving 343 Industries in more of a producer role. These rumors prompted 343 Industries to speak out over the weekend to put the rumblings to rest.
343 Industries’ studio head Pierre Hintze shared a message on Halo’s official Twitter account, writing, “Halo and Master Chief are here to stay. 343 Industries will continue to develop Halo now and in the future, including epic stories, multiplayer, and more of what makes Halo great.”
pic.twitter.com/03Xm3a9s59
— Halo (@Halo) January 21, 2023
But for a studio that has struggled to meet Halo Infinite release dates multiple times, can the recently downsized 343 continue to handle development of a big-budget, AAA first-person shooter franchise? It’s hard to say.
IGN reached out to Xbox’s representatives, but did not receive comment ahead of publication.
‘Hit hard’
IGN has learned that significant cuts have been made to 343’s Halo development team. One former 343 employee impacted by the layoffs estimated about a quarter of 343’s staff was impacted, although that’s not a firm statistic. We’ve also learned that around 30 people were let go from 343’s art department alone, with former employees saying 343 Industries was hit “hard with positions impacted across all disciplines.”
Meanwhile, at least one senior-level source with knowledge of 343’s internal workings, but who is no longer with the studio, has claimed to IGN that it is being reduced to to publishing team. However, based on conversations that IGN has had with knowledgeable sources, the situation at 343 appears to be ongoing, and there is a growing — if unconfirmed — conviction that 343 will no longer be Halo’s sole developer when it’s settled.
Looking through LinkedIn profiles of other laid-off employees reveals hits to folks working on Halo Infinite’s engine, presentation, VFX, gameplay, game design, and more essential departments. It’s clear that 343 is a significantly different studio compared to just seven days ago. In addition, 343 Industries was already dealing with the growing pains of launching a live service game, with a whirlwind of highs and lows over the last year since Halo Infinite’s initial release.
Despite a strong launch at the end of 2021 that included praise for both Infinite’s fresh take on a Halo campaign and the franchise’s first-ever free-to-play multiplayer, the cracks quickly started to show. Fans instantly pushed back against Infinite’s controversial multiplayer progression system, as 343 scrambled to fix the shop and battle pass.
But the problems didn’t stop there, with the cancellation of split-screen co-op, lengthy delays to Forge Mode, and long content droughts during Halo Infinite’s first Seasons. Just five months after what appeared to be the start of Halo’s big comeback, the community was out of patience.
343 rapidly saw a creative exodus after launch, with 343 founder Bonnie Ross, multiplayer creative director Tom French, and lead narrative designer Aaron Linde all leaving the company in 2022.
Patrick Wren, a former senior multiplayer designer now working on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, was unsparing in his assessment of 343’s leadership in a post on Twitter.
“The layoffs at 343 shouldn’t have happened and Halo Infinite should be in a better state. The reason for both of those things is incompetent leadership up top during Halo Infinite development causing massive stress on those working hard to make Halo the best it can be,” Wren wrote.
The layoffs at 343 shouldn’t have happened and Halo Infinite should be in a better state. The reason for both of those things is incompetent leadership up top during Halo Infinite development causing massive stress on those working hard to make Halo the best it can be.
— Patrick Wren (@Witdarkstar) January 19, 2023
Along with those departures, 343 is facing another creative void at the top, with Halo Infinite director Joseph Staten leaving 343 to rejoin Xbox publishing. Staten’s return to Halo was always designed to be a temporary arrangement, but his departure is still causing concerns among the Halo faithful.
Regardless of what happens with Halo in the future, it’s clear that the initial 10-year plan for Halo Infinite isn’t playing out exactly as Microsoft had hoped. For now, Halo Infinite Season 3: Echoes Within is still set to kick off in early March, adding new maps, modes, and weapons to the game.
Additional reporting by Kat Bailey.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
Former Halo Infinite Dev Blasts Management Over Layoffs
Of all the Microsoft teams caught in the blast radius of mass layoffs announced yesterday, it’s possible Halo Infinite maker 343 Industries was among the worst hit. The studio has faced a wave of departures following Halo Infinite’s multiplayer struggles, and the new cuts have sparked strong criticism of those who managed it into this mess in the first place.
“The layoffs at 343 shouldn’t have happened and Halo Infinite should be in a better state,” former Halo Infinite multiplayer designer, Patrick Wren, tweeted Wednesday night. “The reason for both of those things is incompetent leadership up top during Halo Infinite development causing massive stress on those working hard to make Halo the best it can be.”
It’s no secret at this point that Halo Infinite faced a tumultuous development cycle, from a constantly rotating cast of directors to long delays after a gameplay reveal was pilloried online for its rough-looking graphics. Former studio leads have also previously hinted at periods of crunch on the project, while a Bloomberg report detailed developers’ struggles with the game’s engine and problems with Microsoft’s reliance on contract workers who constantly filtered out of the studio rather than full-time staff. “The contract stuff is a whole other can of worms that pisses me off,” Wren tweeted last night. “So many amazing people and talent that just disappeared.”
It’s extremely rare for game developers to speak candidly about the issues they’ve witnessed on past projects, let alone share their opinions openly about how a team or studio was managed. Wren, who left 343 Industries just before Halo Infinite’s launch in 2021, went on to praise his former colleagues and their efforts to deliver on the full promise of the game’s multiplayer.
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“The people I worked every day with were passionate about Halo and wanted to make something great for the fans,” he tweeted. “hey helped push for a better Halo and got laid off for it. Devs still there are working hard on that dream. Look at Forge. Be kind to them during this awful time.”
The harsh criticism came after Microsoft announced 10,000 jobs would be cut across the tech giant’s operations, including gaming, despite reporting “record results” last year, including $83 billion in operating income. The night before, the company’s top executives were reportedly busy being serenaded by Sting at a personalized concert in the Swiss Alps.
Meanwhile, as reports from Kotaku and others poured in that Xbox studios ranging from The Coalition to Bethesda were caught up in the layoffs, it became clear as the day progressed that 343 Industries was facing especially brutal cuts as many developers on Halo Infinite, including some very senior ones, shared the news on on social media that they’d been impacted.
Even prior to yesterday’s layoffs, 343 Industries has been facing wave after wave of high level departures as Halo Infinite struggled to ship new seasonal updates and features on time. The most notable was studio head Bonnie Ross’ departure last September. More recently, multiplayer director and longtime Halo veteran Tom French revealed he was leaving in December. And yesterday, amid the chaos, Bloomberg reported that director and longtime Halo writer, Joseph Staten, was headed to the Xbox publishing side of the business as the studio made the “difficult decision to restructure.”
Even more unfortunate, this latest setback for the studio comes on the heels of a rare bright spot in Halo Infinite’s post-launch live service campaign: the Forge creator mode. Following the cancellation of split-screen coop, many fans saw it as an opportunity to save the game by allowing players to make their maps and modes. And so they have, with creations inspired by everything from The Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim to Pokémon. It’s the most positive some Halo Infinite players have felt since launch but just like that the game’s future is once again uncertain.
Back when Halo Infinite was first revealed in 2020, 343 Industries studio head Chris Lee called it the “start of the next 10 years of Halo.” A few months later he left to join Amazon.
Ex-Halo Infinite developers criticise “incompetent leadership” at Microsoft
Former 343 Industries employees have taken to social media to criticise Microsoft following a round of layoffs.
Yesterday, 10,000 Microsoft employees lost their jobs, including staff at Bethesda Games Studios, Gears of War developer The Coalition, and Halo maker 343 Industries.
Patrick Wren, former senior multiplayer designer on Halo Infinite (and now working at Respawn on Jedi Survivor), was one such former employee who criticised the “incompetent leadership up top”.
“The layoffs at 343 shouldn’t have happened and Halo Infinite should be in a better state,” he said on Twitter. “The reason for both of those things is incompetent leadership up top during Halo Infinite development causing massive stress on those working hard to make Halo the best it can be.
“The people I worked every day with were passionate about Halo and wanted to make something great for the fans. They helped push for a better Halo and got laid off for it.
“Devs still there are working hard on that dream. Look at Forge. Be kind to them during this awful time.”
He added in another tweet: “I do want to make sure that I call out how amazing the Multiplayer Leadership team was during development.”
I do want to make sure that I call out how amazing the Multiplayer Leadership team was during development. https://t.co/wo6AfVyoDO
— Patrick Wren (@Witdarkstar) January 19, 2023
Tyler Owens, another former 343 Industries employee now at Respawn working on Apex Legends, tweeted: “As a Halo fan I’m really tired of Microsoft business practices and policies slowly killing the thing I love. Between the contracting policies they abuse for tax incentives and layoffs in the face of gigantic profits/executive bonuses… they set Halo up for failure”
As a Halo fan I’m really tired of Microsoft business practices & policies slowly killing the thing I love
between the contracting policies they abuse for tax incentives & layoffs in the face of gigantic profits/executive bonuses… they set Halo up for failure
— Tyler Owens (@heytred) January 18, 2023
At the end of last year, Halo Infinite’s multiplayer creative director Tom French left 343 Industries.
Today, we reported the departure of Halo veteran and head of creative Joseph Staten from 343 Industries, as he returns to Xbox Game Studios Publishing.
The layoffs are a troubling sign of unease at Microsoft, and additionally brings the future of the Halo series into question.
A blog post at the end of last year from 343 Industries stated: “we’re committed to making Halo Infinite better with every single update.”
Halo Infinite’s next big update is Season 3: Echoes Within in March this year.
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Halo Infinite Director Joseph Staten Leaving 343 Industries to Rejoin Xbox Publishing
After today’s announcement that Microsoft will lay off 10,000 people, details on how internal restructuring will hit its gaming divisions continue to emerge, with Halo Infinite’s 343 Industries among the studios impacted.
According to Bloomberg, Joseph Staten, a Halo veteran who began his career with Bungie in 1998, will transition from his Halo Infinite creative director role and rejoin Xbox’s publishing division. Staten joined the team at 343 Industries in 2020 as the campaign project lead on Halo Infinite and later saw a title change to Head of Creative.
Bloomberg’s report includes an email from 343 Industries head Pierre Hintze, who explained the studio “made the difficult decision to restructure” and that support for Halo Infinite’s live service features will continue. Details on Staten’s new role and the exact degree of impact at 343 Industries remain unclear for now.
Bright Memory: Infinite ‘Chinese New Year Update’ now available, adds third-person ‘Perspective-Assist’ mode
Publisher PLAYISM [193 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/playism”>PLAYISM and developer FYQD-Studio [15 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/fyqd-studio”>FYQD-Studio have announced the release of a new update for first-person Action [854 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/action”>action game Bright Memory: Infinite [14 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/games/bright-memory-infinite”>Bright Memory: Infinite in celebration of the Luna [12 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/cloud/luna”>Lunar New Year, which adds the third-person “Perspective-Assist” mode across all platforms, “Toon Rendering” option on PC [16,652 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/pc”>PC, and more.
Get the details below.
New Features
- Perspective-Assist – When you turn on “Perspective-Assist” mode in settings, Shelia’s model will be displayed on-screen. Shelia’s model will only be displayed while moving and firing a weapon without aiming. The camera will revert to first-person when aiming, using skills, using the Light Blade, defending, and grappling.
- New Downloadable Content Costumes – Currently only available on PC.
- Toon Rendering for PC – Renders the character model in a cel-shaded toon style. Press the home key in-game to switch models.
- Optimizations
- Optimized NPC character models and improved frame rate.
- Optimized the lightning effects of the Six-armed Emperor’s lightning attack and improved frame rate.
- Optimized GPU processing of the flame effects when the Giant King is in its second form.
- Optimized the “check weapon” action for the assault rifle to make the arm movement more natural.
- Optimized the motion blur after the sneaking mission.
- Adjusted the skins menu to show the newest skins first.
- Optimized Shelia’s model in the skins menu so that her left arm is in a more natural position.
- Optimized the lighting in the skins menu.
- Fixes
- Fixed an issue where checking weapon with the crosshair turned off will prevent you from picking up items or shooting.
- Fixed an issue where players can attack while climbing.
- Miscellaneous
- Changed the tiger doll with a rabbit doll in the car chase mission.
Bright Memory: Infinite is available now for PS5 [4,053 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/playstation/ps5″>PlayStation 5, Xbox Series [3,120 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/xbox/xbox-series”>Xbox Series, Switch [12,837 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/nintendo/switch”>Switch, and PC via Steam and GOG.
Watch a new trailer below.
Perspective-Assist Mode Update Trailer
English
Japanese
Halo Devs Use Fan’s Pokémon Map To Fix Game’s Aiming Issues
Halo has a long tradition of community-made maps and game modes that range everywhere from serious to silly. Recently, one map and mode combo that’s more on the playful and fun side of things caught the attention of 343 Industries as an opportunity to fix long-standing shooting issues. Named after a certain Pokémon notorious for digging and jumping out of holes, this community creation is now being used to pinpoint and fix aiming and shot registration woes, as they’ve plagued Halo Infinite since it launched just over a year ago.
Halo Infinite, the latest entry in the long-running and often critically acclaimed first person shooter series, only recently received an update that included a beta version of its in-game map creator: Forge. First premiering in Halo 3, Forge has been a staple of the series ever since 2007, allowing anyone to create a map of their own design with the tools necessary to create custom games for it, be those party and minigames or more traditional takes on the franchise’s well-known modes, like Slayer or Capture the Flag. One such community-created game, that takes its name from the Diglett Pokémon, seems to have caught 343’s eye as an opportunity to test drive fixes to the game’s core mechanics.
Read More: Someone Recreated The Entire Halo 1 Warthog Finale In Halo Infinite
With community Forge maps popping up on a regular basis these days, 343 Industries’ senior community manager John Junyszek put out a tweet asking for the community’s favorite Forge minigames so far. When competitive Halo player Linz shouted out Digletts, a game where players pop out of holes to take sniper shots at one another, Junyszek followed up with an interesting bit of behind-the-scenes trivia:
Kotaku has reached out to 343 Industries for more information.
As many Halo fans have known, while Infinite’s core mechanics are solid and work well, there have been issues around aiming, with many players suspecting that the game seems particularly off when trying to line up precision shots with a sniper rifle, either descoped or while aiming down sights. Whether this is due to the game’s auto-aim function that eases controller aim (and exists on most modern shooters that take controller inputs), bullet magnetism, or the notorious desync issues many players have had with Infinite isn’t totally certain. Since Diglet is a game that only features aiming and shooting, it’s a pretty perfect test environment for studying aiming behavior. Junyszek said that the “minigame has recently helped our team further test and investigate various shot registration situations, especially in regards to latency and networking. Since it’s a curated environment without many variables, it’s helped us investigate specific scenarios.”
Check out the the Diglett game mode in action here:
Who knew RPing as a Diglet armed with a legendary anti-materiel rifle could be so productive?
INFINITE GUITARS launches December 13 for Xbox One, Switch, and PC
Rhythm RPG [14,590 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/rpg”>RPG INFINITE GUITARS [1 article]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/games/infinite-guitars”>INFINITE GUITARS will launch for Switch [12,476 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/nintendo/switch”>Switch, Xbox One [11,544 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/xbox/xbox-one”>Xbox One, and PC [16,238 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/pc”>PC via Steam and Humble Store on December 13 for $19.99, publisher Humble Games [89 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/humble-games”>Humble Games and developer Nikko Nikko [2 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/nikko-nikko”>Nikko Nikko announced. The Xbox One and Switch versions are newly announced.
The INFINITE GUITARS lofi album will also be available via Apple Music and Spotify starting Novmeber 17 at 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET, featuring some of the music players will get to experience in the game.
About
In INFINITE GUITARS, a world shredded by the devastating war against the Mechs, the remnants of humanity scavenge and fight to survive. Now, the metal war machines have reawakened—and only your electric guitar can turn their technology against them! Gather up the party, tune up your favorite axe, and get ready to rock in INFINITE GUITARS, a genre-melting rhythm RPG featuring vibrant anime-inspired art, adrenaline-fueled Mech battles, and a blazing original soundtrack.
Key Features
- Role-Playing Rhythm – Amp up skills and test reflexes in rock duels that mix elements of Turn-Based RPG [370 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/rpg/turn-based-rpg”>turn-based role-playing, Action [731 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/action”>action, and Rhythm [52 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/rhythm”>rhythm games.
- Electrifying Anime [296 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/anime”>Anime-Inspired Adventure [547 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/adventure”>Adventure – Explore a stylish science-fiction world filled with Colossal-Type Mechs, guitar-wielding heroes, and over-the-top attacks.
- Guitar-Driven Team Battles – Perform metal-crushing solos and devastating duets as JJ, Sam, Kaylee, and Ru—a scrappy team of wastelanders with their own strengths and abilities.
- Rage Against the Mechs – Unleash the full force of skills in epic boss battles that fuse electrifying anime-inspired action and hyperkinetic rock.
- Explosive 100 Percent Original Soundtrack – Crank up the volume to steel-shattering levels for the ultimate showdown against the War Mechs!
View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.
Screenshots
Halo Infinite Won’t Get Split-Screen Co-Op, But Players Have Worked Out How to Do It Now
Following the news that Halo Infinite will no longer be getting split-screen local co-op, some players have already discovered a way to take advantage of a menu glitch to make it happen.
As reported by Eurogamer, @Zeny_IC on Twitter discovered that players on Xbox Series X/S can use a menu glitch to add three local co-op players to their game. You can check out how it works in the tutorial by @HaloCreation below and read the steps after the video.
Follow-up on this, here’s a quick tutorial on how to play #HaloInfinite Splitscreen Coop using a menu glitch found by @Zeny_IC!
(Kinda low effort, but it’s 2AM, I’m tired, and it does contain everything you need to know to DIY! 😆) https://t.co/I1Cxx7YXqk pic.twitter.com/x0VAYW2tUh— Halo Création (@HaloCreation) September 3, 2022
Here are the steps, courtesy of Eurogamer, @Zeny_IC, and @HaloCreation:
- Go to the campaign menu and load a save
- Click “Play” and get ready to quickly go to your friend list
- As soon as “loading map” appears, go to your friend list and join a friend who’s idling in the menus
- You can then leave the fireteam
- In the custom lobby, under server, select “Offline”
- You can now connect your other controllers and profiles
- Click “Play”.
Obviously, 343 Industries may patch out/unintentionally break this feature with future updates, and there is no guarantee it won’t crash your Xbox/delete saves/etc., but it appears to be a way to play with friends at home on one couch.
“After checking on Series X, the menu glitches to play Halo Infinite campaign splitscreen still work: no crash in cutscenes, no issue with AIs, etc.,” Halo Creation said. “Never thought I would have to go through this to play with friends at home.”
Despite promising the feature, 343 Industries confirmed it would no longer be bringing split-screen local co-op to Halo Infinite as it is instead going to focus on improving and accelerating “ongoing live service development” and more.
“In order to improve and accelerate ongoing live service development, and to better address player feedback and quality of life updates, we have reallocated studio resources and are no longer working on local campaign split-screen co-op,” said 343 Industries.
The news was shared alongside a glimpse into the future of Halo Infinite, which includes Forge Mode and the full release of online campaign co-op on November 8 and much more.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.