A Bungie veteran will attempt to get 'Halo Infinite' back on course

Between tepid reactions to the first gameplay trailer and the news Halo Infinite won’t be a launch title for Xbox Series X this November, it’s no secret things aren’t entirely rosy with the game’s development. To help shepherd the game along, a Halo veteran has joined developer 343 Industries as the project lead for the Halo Infinite campaign.

Joseph Staten was a writer and director of cinematics for Bungie’s first three Halo games and held various creative positions on other titles in the series. He was also a writer and co-creative director for Destiny. He left Bungie in 2013, before the studio released that game. Staten returned to the Microsoft fold the following year as a senior creative director on the Xbox Games Studios team. Most recently, he helped see through Dontnod's Tell Me Why, the first episode of which is out today.

Staten “will be focused on supporting the campaign team’s existing, talented, creative leaders and ensuring they have everything they need to create an awesome Halo game,” according to the latest Halo community update.

As things stand, Halo Infinite, which is also coming to PC and Xbox One, is scheduled for release sometime in 2021. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft brought in Staten to get the game "back on track" and avoid further delays. On the other side of the equation, Pierre Hintze, the head of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection publishing team, is taking over as the project lead for Halo Infinite’s free-to-play multiplayer modes.