French’s departure is the latest in a long series of key developers leaving 343 Industries in the past few months. After Halo Infinite revealed its roadmap for the winter update and Season 3 last September, several employees of 343 Industries parted ways with the company. Bonnie Ross, head of 343 Industries and co-founder of the studio, stepped down from her position two weeks after the reveal of this roadmap followed by David Berger, the lead developer for Halo Infinite’s Slipspace Engine, three days later.
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343 Industries now loses its multiplayer creative director, as Tom French announced on Twitter his decision to leave the studio. The developer said it was an honor for him to work on the Halo series for over 11 years, but he wants to move on to new adventures elsewhere. The exact reasons behind his departure remain a mystery, as well as the identity of the new head of multiplayer experiences for Halo Infinite.
Tom French joined 343 Industries in April 2011 as a senior mission designer responsible for designing and implementing various objectives for the campaign and Spartan Ops in Halo 4. After almost two years in this position, he became the user-generated content lead for Halo 5, implementing new ways for players to create their own levels in the game. In December 2016, French was promoted to multiplayer creative director, with the responsibility of establishing the creative vision for the free-to-play multiplayer experiences in Halo Infinite.
The studio hasn’t commented on French’s departure yet, nor has it revealed who will fill that role. Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty recently commented on the struggles Halo Infinite faced since its launch back in November 2021, admitting that development fell short to provide “regular continuing engagement” to players, leading to the loss of a large portion of the game’s initial player base.
Despite these internal struggles, 343 Industries keeps on working on new content for Halo Infinite. Last September, the studio teased the upcoming Season 3: Echoes Within, a new wave of content that has been pushed back into 2023. Recent leaks shared more information about the maps coming with Halo Infinite Season 3, with images of the Cliffhanger and Oasis locations.
Halo Infinite is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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