Halo Infinite Head Of Creative Joseph Staten Announces His Departure From Microsoft
Joseph Staten, the Head of Creative for Halo Infinite, is leaving Microsoft due to undisclosed reasons after nearly a decade with the company. Staten previously worked as a writer for Bungie before joining Microsoft in 2014 during a rough patch in Destiny 2’s development. He then joined 343 Industries in 2020 to oversee the development of Halo Infinite following its year-long delay.
His tenure as Head of Creative for the first-person shooter was a rough one as the initial positivity surrounding its release quickly turned sour after its co-op campaign was delayed multiple times and local multiplayer was scrapped altogether. He was then transferred back to Xbox publishing in January just days before Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees, including developers on the Halo Infinite dev team at 343 Industries, only to announce his departure just a few months later.
“We're grateful for Joseph’s contributions to the Halo franchise and Xbox as a whole,” Microsoft told IGN. “We wish him all the best in his new adventure.”
Neither Microsoft nor Staten offered a reason for his departure, but it’s likely related to the issues surrounding Halo Infinite’s development and 343’s decision to move away from single-player game development to focus on multiplayer and live service titles.
