In an interview with Gamespot, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has told fans not to worry about Halo Infinite, despite the reports of departing developers.
"Sometimes what hits the press or when certain things get announced internally have actually happened months before. It's not always accurate when these things line up," he said.
"[...]I really have a lot of faith in Bonnie [Ross] and the team there having Joe and Pierre join, which they did late in the summer—I feel good about where we are on that team. But as an industry, we're always going to see turnover. I don't have any specific concern about 343. I actually think in the long run, turnover is a healthy thing because we want people who are really motivated by the things that they're working on."
Spencer's reassurance comes after several developers left 343 Studios in what appeared to be the span of months. Creative director Tim Longo left 343 in August 2019, and was replaced by Mary Olson, who left in October of the same year. Back then, the quick turnover prompted community manager John Junyszek to issue a reassuring statement on Reddit. Halo Infinite Studio Director Chris Lee then took over, but has since also left the project. Halo: The Master Chief Collection head of publishing Pierre Hintze and and veteran Halo writer Jospeh Staten were added to the project in August 2020, following Halo Infinite's underwhelming performance at Xbox's July showcase.
Spencer emphasises that while the team takes the fan feedback to the reveal seriously, unfortunate timing, and not the feedback itself, led to the delay being announced soon after.
"It's not always accurate when these things line up—we did take the feedback coming out of the July showcase event seriously, both on the date and what people were expecting from the game.
"We did take the feedback coming out of the July showcase event seriously, both on the date and what people were expecting from the game," he continues. "It was a miss on our part, on my part, to open our July showcase with Halo Infinite and then a couple of weeks later have to move the date."
