[UPDATE 2] With a brief message shared on Twitter, 343 Industries boss Pierre Hintze refuted the original rumor reported below and confirmed that the studio is busy working on Halo Infinite and will continue to deliver story experiences as well.
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.
[UPDATE] Jason Schreier denied most of the Halo Infinite rumor's content in a post published on the ResetEra board.
I ran these bullet points by a few people. While it's true that 343 is focused on multiplayer, the stuff about campaign DLC being scrapped is false (I don't think there was much of that planned in the first place), and a lot of this is either wrong or just speculation.
[ORIGINAL STORY] A new rumor sparked by the author of the Bathrobe Spartan podcast suggests that Halo Infinite campaign DLCs have been scrapped, and future experiences will be made outside 343 Industries.
According to the rumor, Joseph Staten had been planning multiple campaign DLCs for the game, but those plans were stopped after Bonnie Ross left 343 Industries. Pierre Hintze, the new studio head, reportedly decided that the effort wasn't worth it in terms of complexity and profitability. As such, the studio will focus on developing Halo Infinite multiplayer throughout its various seasons.
There's more, however. The rumor goes as far as saying that the game did not meet Microsoft's goals, essentially demoting 343 Industries to mere franchise coordinators. Future Halo experiences would be contracted out to third-party studios through Xbox Publishing.
This would line up with Joseph Staten returning to Xbox Publishing, as he has a lot of experience with the Halo franchise and could help steward other studios in their upcoming efforts.
As a reminder, these should be taken as unconfirmed tidbits for the time being. However, at least another podcast host confirmed hearing the same info.
Thread on Halo:
I was waiting to share this as they do a good job of breaking it down.
From what I can corroborate, the below is accurate. Halo is certainly not going anywhere, but to realize its potential the management structure is changing (drastically).
— Ains (@Porshapwr) January 19, 2023
Halo Infinite, as you will surely recall, had a troubled development phase. It was supposed to launch alongside the Xbox Series S and X in November 2020 but was delayed after the middling reception of its first gameplay trailer.
Halo Infinite eventually launched in November 2021, one year behind schedule. It reviewed fairly well (our own Chris Wray gave it an 8 out of 10), and its multiplayer enjoyed some early success, though eventually, fans complained about the lack of content. Halo Infinite also suffered from the lack of support for the co-op campaign and Forge mode, franchise staples that were only recently added to the game (split screen was scrapped altogether, even though there's an unofficial way to use it).
The new Joint Fire multiplayer event launched earlier this week and will run until January 31st.
