Joseph Staten, a longtime fixture of the Halo franchise, has returned to work on Halo Infinite as a product lead for the new game. His focus while working on Halo Infinite will be on the game’s campaign as he oversees the work already being done at 343 Industries. The studio confirmed Staten’s involvement in Halo Infinite this week in the latest Halo Waypoint post that shared updates on the game and other Halo developments currently in the works.
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Bloomberg first reported on Staten’s move back to Halo and said he was being brought on to get the game “back on track” after it was delayed earlier in the month and is now without a release date. 343 Industries’ announcement didn’t say that in so many words but did say he would help get the game “to the finish line.”
“And last, but certainly not least, we’re excited to announce that our old friend Joseph Staten will be returning home to Halo for a bit,” said 343 Industries community manager John “Unyshek” Junyszek. “After helping launch Tell Me Why this week, he’ll be coming on board as project lead for campaign as we push towards our 2021 release. The team has been working hard realizing our vision for campaign and we’re happy to have Joseph’s help to get it to the finish line.”
Those looking forward to Halo Infinite may be unfamiliar with Staten’s past works, so 343 Industries shared a primer to help frame the significance of his involvement. Working previously at Bungie, he worked on all of the studio’s Halo titles and also worked on Destiny.
“For those of you who don’t know Joseph Staten, he wore many hats while working at Bungie for all of their Halo titles and even Destiny before joining the Xbox Games Studios family in 2014,” Junyszek said. “If you enjoy Halo’s storylines, characters, and overall universe, he’s definitely one of the key people you have to thank. As product lead on Halo Infinite, however, Joseph 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. His return to the franchise excites me and we’re all looking forward to having him on board!”
I’m thrilled to join @Halo to help them ship Halo Infinite. As the project lead for the Infinite Campaign, I will be supporting the team’s existing, great leaders and empowering them to do their best work. https://t.co/pQiNPQVBZs
— Joseph Staten (@joestaten) August 27, 2020
Staten retweeted the announcement with the statement above.
Halo Infinite is scheduled to release on the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC with no known release date.
