Joseph Staten Becomes Halo Infinite Campaign Lead

In the wake of Halo Infinite’s delay to 2021, a veteran from the series’ Bungie era has been brought on to help finish the game.

In a post on the official Halo Waypoint site, it was announced that Joseph Staten has joined the Halo Infinite development team. The post says “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.”

For those unfamiliar with Staten’s history with the franchise, he served as a writer on every Halo title from Halo: Combat Evolved through Halo: Reach. He continued his work with Bungie on the the initial release of Destiny, then returned to Microsoft Game Studios in 2014.

In addition to recruiting Staten, the Halo Infinite development team also gained Pierre Hintze, the head of publishing at 343 Industries, to oversee the game’s free-to-play multiplayer experience.

We finally saw Halo Infinite gameplay during an Xbox Games Showcase last month. The game’s visual presentation was widely criticized online, and an underwhelming Brute character model became a widely-shared meme. Many blame the game’s lack of graphical punch on the game’s status as a cross-generation title, but 343 Industries says the game will still release on Xbox One.