New Halo Infinite Update Has Xbox Fans Divided

By Tyler Fischer

A new Halo Infinite update has some dividing news for Xbox fans. After a promising start, it's fair to say 343 Industries has botched yet another Halo game. At release, Halo Infinite had lots of buzz around it, and rightfully so as it was an improvement compared to previous 343 Industries outings. However, it was also missing content that took far too long to add and the post-launch support of the multiplayer has been amateurish compared to its competition in the live-service space. The multiplayer itself is great, it's just not been supported the way it needs to be. that said, the man who played a huge part in designing the game's multiplayer is leaving the studio, which, at this point, is having trouble retaining talent. That's right, today Tom French announced -- via Twitter -- he's left 343 Industries.

"After over 11 1/2 years on Halo, I step out of my Spartan armor for the last time today to head off to new adventures, writes French."It's been a massive honor to have been part of a game I loved so much as a player and admired so much as a developer. I couldn't be more proud of my time at 343."

French doesn't go into why he's leaving the team behind, but he's not the first. 343 Industries has been bleeding talent, especially at the senior level, which is increasingly difficult and expensive to replace in the current economic landscape. 

So, what's so dividing about this news? You'd assume everyone is disappointed by the news and worried by the aforementioned context. And this is a reasonable assumption, but if you look at the replies to the tweet, there are plenty of fans who are happy to see French go. Suffice to say, these players don't like the game's multiplayer very much. 

It's unclear how much of a role French had in shaping the post-launch support of the game's multiplayer versus designing it. You won't find many complaining about the core of the multiplayer experience, but you will find many complaining about the former, aka everything surrounding it.  Again, how much of this fumble can be blamed on French, we don't know, but plenty of players are doing it and are happy to see him go as a result.

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