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 ing Microsoft in 2014 during a rough patch in Destiny 2’s development. He then ed 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 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.