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I believe it's time to disband 343 Industries.

Everyone knows it's time to disband 343. Halo is (was, vroom Forza vroom) Microsofts biggest brand, and was among the biggest brands in entertainment in general not just n gaming. While Halo still sells, it's due to people holding out hope, hope that's not going to come because we have had 343 since 2011, so it's been 11 years, I think we have seen enough. Halo may have held out, but it can't survive anymore damage, Microsoft won't even give MAU for Halo Infinite and that was supposed to be the new sales number. The active players are dropping like Halo 4, ny other company would have done something years ago.

Microsoft has purchased several studios over the years, several of them have made some of the most acclaimed first person RPG or first person shooters in recent years before they were brought out. Combined with the 5 talented people at the whole of 343, and maybe they can get some Forza guys in there too, they can create a new studio that actually knows how to treat their customers right, get games out on time, make sure people want to play them in the long term, and not try poorly implementing features from other games that don't work with Halo.

There's no reason to keep 343 around. You can even prevent layoffs and move staff from 343 to other parts of the company. Power point needs designers, MS word can use a new UI look. working at the excess Kinect inventory recycling plant, many new exciting opportunities for 343 staff, but Halo isn't it Jak. Microsoft said that Halo Infinite is supposed to be supported longer than other games in the series, but it's clear that's a very bad idea. I also don't believe it's going to happen, I see a new Halo game announcement in 2023 or 2024, and when it is announced that's going to accelerate infinite's death until only a few hundred hardcore players are left.

I can't think of a single release where the opportunity was gold, and 343 didn't drop the gold in a pit for Sony to pick up at the bottom and walk off. Or dropped inside of a Forza car and they drove off. Every opportunity was wasted.

Any other company would not have tolerated the years of errors made by the studio, and any chances they would have still gave 343 would have ended after the Halo Master Chief Collection debacle, which Microsoft somehow ignored. That should have been the end right there.

But now that Microsoft has acquired some of the best First-Person genre (puzzle, RPG, fps) developers out there, there's no longer a reason to not disband the studio and move the series to another studio, or create a new one. Several of which have played Halo, so you aren't starting from scratch.

I can't think of any reason why they shouldn't disband 343 and take advantage of their new acclaimed studios.

September 1st 2022 update​

https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/1/23332738/halo-infinite-season-3-delay-forge-launch-november
https://www.shacknews.com/article/132116/halo-infinite-local-coop-canceled
Forge Mode and Co-Op have been delayed until November, Season 2 will last much longer than anticipated. Local co-op has been cancelled. 343 is considering adding MTX to Halo MCC, partnered with trolli candy for MTX, and marketed the release of a cookbook.

Microsoft is being too lenient here. This isn't Rare where they had a turn around, this is their worst performing studio long term they have ever had. With the most delays and the worst results.
 
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jhjfss

Member
Hacking Blah Blah Blah Blah GIF by Giflytics
 
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Jaybe

Member
The plan they should implement:
  1. Acquire Certain Affinity
  2. Give Halo to Certain Affinity
  3. Close down 343
  4. Let Certain Affinity hire from the cream of the 343 crop and external
While Halo still sells,
Does it though? No unit sales given… dropped off NPD faster than any halo prior. No MAU as you said. Studios don’t get to support failed live service games.

working at the excess Kinect inventory recycling plant
Good one 😂
 
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Tldr, stopped reading after the first few sentences

But you're right, it's elder scrolls and soon to be call of duty

pepe-smoking.gif


EDIT: in all seriousness Id would probably make a dope Halo, revert 343 to a support team throughout Microsoft studios... They have some development chops but no creative talent, put em where they'd succeed
 
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I say give them a shot at a new IP. Give Halo a break in the interim.

If they can't find their footing with a new IP THEY come up with themselves, then it's maybe time to reconsider their contributions to the Xbox Studios portfolio.

I wouldn't outright kill the studio - there's talented folks there. Just seemingly a mismanaged clusterfuck.

With Acti/Bliz and Bethesda coming aboard, there's so many other studios better suited to rebuild Halo for the modern age and player.
 
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ZehDon

Member
Well, I think it already kind of is. If you've been paying attention to 343i since Halo Infinite's release, you'd have seen a pretty steady exodus from the studio. The individual in a Senior position, responsible for the atrocious progression systems, exited the company, for example. They took a small number of 343i's employees with them, and setup shop making mobile games. Their CTO was also recently replaced by an old-guard Halo developer and Bungie vet, which should help immensely.

Looking over the last year or so, after the disastrous Halo Infinite Gameplay reveal, Joseph Staten joined the team, and he has quickly become the face of 343i. Staten has been Microsoft's fixer for a while, and I'm betting he got a fancy big cheque to get Halo back in line. Bonnie Ross is MIA, Kiki Wolfkill is off in TV land, and Frank O'Connor seems to have disappeared into another dimension. This is what happens in corpo land when you've royally fucked up. Forcing the Xbox Series X|S to launch without a game, and forcing Microsoft to pay for all those timed marketing deals they'd already invested in? And then launching the worst live service since Anthem, one that's performing so badly that they're forced to add microtransactions into eight year old games to make up the missing revenue? Yeah, that's about as big a fuck up as you can get in this space. In these scenarios, you're not fired - you simply fade into the background, before you're allowed to graciously "move on to new exciting projects".

All's quiet on the outside, but inside, I'm betting 343i is a killing floor. Hopefully the company that emerges is that much leaner and hungry to earn back the goodwill that 343i burned.
 
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BreakOut

Member
Uh oh. Maybe just change around staff. At the end of the day it is the people. I do see where people might just see 343 and condemn the game though. I dislike for the studio is real, earned or not. It sucks because they have such a legacy to fight against. Going against the original halo games and trying to establish themselves must be hard, I feel bad for them.
 

ZoukGalaxy

Member
I notice you're starting a lot of controversial thread these times (Jaguar, Metroid Other M, 343i, etc...) that honestly don't really deserve a thread or have been many times already discussed.

Are you in a kind of middle life crisis or something like that or what ? Or maybe in teenagers rebel time ?
 
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tkscz

Member
Move them to a different project sure, but lets not disband them outright. Maybe Halo isn't their thing.
 

ChorizoPicozo

Gold Member
No.

Edit: They need to create a New IP. Then, close the studio (if such game is also a cluster fuck).
 
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Lasha

Member
343's issue is management. Not going to get into personal details but its pretty weird to be playing a different game with a bunch of leads because they got their bonus and wanted a chill day while Halo Infinite is burning at the background. The management team kinda gamed the system. They are compensated and treated like normal Microsoft management with good benefits, high pay, and fairly solid job security. They are insulated from the factors which force other studios to produce in a shorter time which is why development has been troubled. MS is sorting it out. Management is being reshuffled and key positions have been opening up. I would suspend the death sentence for a year to see if those changes materialize into anything substantial.

In 343's defense, the market has shifted. Halo Infinite multiplayer is solid and amongst the best in the series. 343 gave it away for free and improved monetization by offering battlepasses which never expire. Outstanding moves that would save most Halo players $60 and open the game to a broader audience. What did the market do? Bitch that there was not enough "progression" or that playing felt like a "waste of time" because the battlepass was "too slow". Gamers don't want games anymore. They want a surrogate for success and the dopamine hit of checking a box or filling a bar.
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
Just finished the halo infinite campaign is was great. Prob need to lay off trying to make a LS game but halo single player is the best it’s been.

the multiplayer was also great for a few weeks there. there just wasnt enough content to keep playing it. fine with me, i don't want games to be infinite grinds.
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
I don't think so. They are clearly capable. Making a Halo game isn't easy. They just didn't make a good one yet. But look at Mercury Steam. Shit studio, until they hit Dread. And no Samus Returns wasn't good. 343 CAN make a good Halo.
 

Apocryphon

Member
I would love to see modern iD software's take on Halo
Fuck that noise! id is hopefully working on rebooting the Quake franchise. I'd rather have that than putting them on Halo.

Halo should go to The Coalition or Infinity Ward. Call of Duty Infinite Warfare was ridiculously well done. I'd give them a shot at a Halo campaign.
 
Yeah they blow hard at their one job but they’re paid to continuously do said job. Not really their fault Microsoft wants this necro version of Halo to exist so badly.
 

Ozzie666

Member
If it was any other publisher, 343i would be taken to the EA grave yard and either put out of their misery, split up or re-deployed to support another studio.
 

Varteras

Gold Member
Give Halo a rest or give some spin-off Halo projects to other studios for awhile. Let 343 get creative and bring a fresh IP to the table. Doing something different might give them the perspective they need for a future Halo entry. They just can't seem to do anything with that franchise that doesn't end up pissing a lot of people off. My honest take on the direction Halo should go, and I know I'm asking to get shot for saying this, but I think Halo needs its God of War moment. Just get a big pair of brass balls and throw most of the old formula out. Make Halo gritty. Give it the Battlefield treatment. Like, when Battlefield was good. Just mass warfare on big maps. A down and dirty campaign. Less of this big, fantastical, cosmic stuff and more just in-the-trenches nasty war. That's just what I'd like to see and I say that as an old Halo fan who honestly misses when the franchise felt badass. It really just feels limp at this point.
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
Fuck that noise! id is hopefully working on rebooting the Quake franchise. I'd rather have that than putting them on Halo.

Halo should go to The Coalition or Infinity Ward. Call of Duty Infinite Warfare was ridiculously well done. I'd give them a shot at a Halo campaign.


damn, how about let 343 make a new gears and the coalition make a new halo. infinity ward would also be interesting.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
how about we kill off gears as a franchise entirely and get the coalition to work on an actually fun and interesting shooter that isn't hidey hidey shooty shooty bullshit on end
people say the original trilogy is best, they will never top it, now trash it and get them to work on an arena/movement shooter
 
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Everyone knows it's time to disband 343. Halo is (was, vroom Forza vroom) Microsofts biggest brand, and was among the biggest brands in entertainment in general not just n gaming. While Halo still sells, it's due to people holding out hope, hope that's not going to come because we have had 343 since 2011, so it's been 11 years, I think we have seen enough. Halo may have held out, but it can't survive anymore damage, Microsoft won't even give MAU for Halo Infinite and that was supposed to be the new sales number. The active players are dropping like Halo 4, ny other company would have done something years ago.

Microsoft has purchased several studios over the years, several of them have made some of the most acclaimed first person RPG or first person shooters in recent years before they were brought out. Combined with the 5 talented people at the whole of 343, and maybe they can get some Forza guys in there too, they can create a new studio that actually knows how to treat their customers right, get games out on time, make sure people want to play them in the long term, and not try poorly implementing features from other games that don't work with Halo.

There's no reason to keep 343 around. You can even prevent layoffs and move staff from 343 to other parts of the company. Power point needs designers, MS word can use a new UI look. working at the excess Kinect inventory recycling plant, many new exciting opportunities for 343 staff, but Halo isn't it Jak. Microsoft said that Halo Infinite is supposed to be supported longer than other games in the series, but it's clear that's a very bad idea. I also don't believe it's going to happen, I see a new Halo game announcement in 2023 or 2024, and when it is announced that's going to accelerate infinite's death until only a few hundred hardcore players are left.

I can't think of a single release where the opportunity was gold, and 343 didn't drop the gold in a pit for Sony to pick up at the bottom and walk off. Or dropped inside of a Forza car and they drove off. Every opportunity was wasted.

Any other company would not have tolerated the years of errors made by the studio, and any chances they would have still gave 343 would have ended after the Halo Master Chief Collection debacle, which Microsoft somehow ignored. That should have been the end right there.

But now that Microsoft has acquired some of the best First-Person genre (puzzle, RPG, fps) developers out there, there's no longer a reason to not disband the studio and move the series to another studio, or create a new one. Several of which have played Halo, so you aren't starting from scratch.

I can't think of any reason why they shouldn't disband 343 and take advantage of their new acclaimed stud
If you were a big Halo fan during the glory days when it was the biggest thing in gaming it is painful to realize how MS has let it fall so far from greatness. The weird thing is seeing MS seemingly be OK with the state it's in. Their not even trying to turn the narrative around by promising future content or massive updates. It's a shame.
 

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
the multiplayer was also great for a few weeks there. there just wasnt enough content to keep playing it. fine with me, i don't want games to be infinite grinds.
Yeah I’m not a pvp guy, only played it a bit before the campaign release to see if I like how it controlled
 

Rickyiez

Member
I don't think so. They are clearly capable. Making a Halo game isn't easy. They just didn't make a good one yet. But look at Mercury Steam. Shit studio, until they hit Dread. And no Samus Returns wasn't good. 343 CAN make a good Halo.
Lol Hopium . They were given 4 chances and failed all of them . There is no evidence that 343 can make a Halo game with longevity , every business decision they took after launch went into wrong places .
 
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Dane

Member
More like the top management is the issue since these games are considered good, but not the acclaim they were on bungie days, no one closes studios without being on a massive underwhelming result and by that it means mediocre products.

I don't think so. They are clearly capable. Making a Halo game isn't easy. They just didn't make a good one yet. But look at Mercury Steam. Shit studio, until they hit Dread. And no Samus Returns wasn't good. 343 CAN make a good Halo.
Mercury Steam is not even a bad studio, LoS 2 was an unexpected letdown while the two Metroid games were right on it, but I should also mention that Nintendo plays a good role on these games, maybe the reason why they bought Next Level its because they could handle the IPs on their own after some games.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
But look at Mercury Steam. Shit studio, until they hit Dread
mercury steam was bouncing from franchise to franchise because they had literally 0 stability and were just doing gigs to get cash, and even then at the end of the day they still struck with dread
343I is sitting under the wing of the 2nd richest company on planet earth and they have been grinding on the same franchise for 11 years straight. They are filled with some of the most talented industry veterans and best writers.
you cannot compare the 2
 
Infinite was great (what there was of it at least), and MCC is an all time favourite. But it has to be said, they really have never got their shit fully together.

Terrible post launch support for Infinite, and not even a hint of more single player content. They have the bones of something really good, but can't seem to execute. So strange.
 
Pretty over the lack of cohesive story, missing the mark with other 343 tent pole ideas and generally just not learning from your own mistakes over 3 major title releases, a huge remake/repackaging with MCC and a decade plus if time/money and experience. I'd rather they build out a few smaller titles and experiment far more rapidly. When one hits invest hugely. You know like Apex Legends.

As for multiplayer it's just not what I want to play. I have no interest in esports maps and modes over and over and over and over and over. It's all 343 can drive at with Halo 5, Infinite or MCC. Morons chasing that crowd of diminishing returns.

No PvE akin to Destiny really bothers me. Azure, MS, Xbox and Halo/343 all cloud and tech driven to date have not produced a mode that could have killed it with networking and shared world experiences. Halo 5 Firefight was a step in the right direction, they killed that shit off stupidly with Infinite. FFS.

It's very long overdue the management team was completely overhauled. Tired ideas, shite writing, poor characterisations, constant rewrites, crap TV show, poor quality toys and merchandise for the most part etc. I just don't really like 343's vision of Halo and Chief. I mourn what could have been with some visionary heads at the helm of Halo 5, Infinite or MCC.
 
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