A former employee at 343 Studios had some interesting things to say about the recently announced layoffs at the studio.
Patrick Wren, who was senior multiplayer designer for Halo in 343 Studios, shared this message on his 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.
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.”
Patrick is currently at Respawn Entertainment, as Senior Encounter Designer for Star Wars Jedi Survivor.
Microsoft cited different reasons for the layoffs in the company. To sum, the changing economics of the industry and the world at large, and also the changes in their customer’s behaviors, forced them to choose which parts of their businesses needed to be cut.
But what Patrick is referring to here speaks more to the turbulent period the studio has had making Halo games since they were formed. This was reflected in the issues Halo Infinite had upon release. While most players agree the game is now in an acceptable state, fans won’t soon forget that it had to be slowly released in parts to even feel like a complete game.
Subsequently, in the past year various people within 343 Industries had announced their departure from the studio.
There was Bonnie Ross, no less than the founder of 343 Industries herself. Nicolas Bouvier was 343 Industries’ art director. Jerry Hook was its Head of Design.
It is actually completely normal for people to leave video game companies, even in the middle of projects, even if they were in positions as high as Bonnie’s. Yusuke Hashimoto was already in a senior position at PlatinumGames, having been the director for Bayonetta 2, when he left PlatinumGames to take on the designer role at Capcom for Street Fighter 6, 25 years after he had worked on Street Fighter Alpha as one of his first games.
But this large number of exits, paired with rumors of trouble at 343 Games, paints a poor picture of the studio. And just to remind you, this was all around before Microsoft started these recent layoffs.
We may never know the full story of what’s going on at 343 Industries until someone speaks up. But hopefully, after Microsoft makes their changes to their business, that leads to positive changes in the Halo studio as well.
Source: Twitter
