The Halo franchise just keeps on bleeding talent. This time, the critically-acclaimed FPS series is losing one of its longest-tenured and foremost figures Frank O’Connor.
If you head on over to O’Connor’s LinkedIn page, you’ll find that the latest update confirms he ended his time as Creative Director of Halo this month. Furthermore, O’Connor updated his experience to list that he assumed the same position last month for a different unnamed company. Interestingly, his new “NA” company has the same location (Greater Seattle Area).
O’Connor has worked on Halo since 2004, initially working with Bungie before joining Microsoft to help form 343 Industries in 2008. He’s since had a hand in several Halo projects, including last year’s Halo TV series on Paramount Plus.
O’Connor’s departure marks an exodus within 343 Industries and the Halo series as a whole. In the past year, 343 has lost a lot of key personnel, including its engine lead, multiplayer creative director, and head of creative, among several others. In addition to the aforementioned high-level departures, Microsoft also cut an estimated 10,000 employees earlier this year, many of which worked at 343. So, while Phil Spencer reiterates that Halo is still a significant part of Microsoft’s future, you can’t blame fans for thinking that Halo is dead in the water.
After all, Microsoft will officially own Activision Blizzard and Call of Duty in a few weeks.
Surprisingly enough, longtime Halo fans don’t seem too concerned about the most recent resignations. The consensus is that, now that much of the original 343 management has quit, the next Halo game has the potential to be better.
It’s unclear when the next Halo game will arrive with 343 still supporting Halo Infinite, which is currently in its third season.
