Halo Infinite campaign team was reportedly ‘doomed from the start’ by 343 Industries leadership

Halo Infinite‘s campaign reportedly had a rocky development process that often left its team drained and demoralized, according to new claims from Halo YouTuber Rebs Gaming in a report video shared on April 14.

In the video, which cites a former developer of the game, the Halo YouTuber dissected what he claims was a turbulent development process for Halo Infinite‘s campaign. He asserted the sequel’s development was marred by former executives at 343 Industries, which led to the campaign team being “doomed from the start” due to the lack of collaboration with the rest of the studio, which drained the team.

Notably, the company’s decision to forgo external testing—a departure from previous Halo games—was highlighted as a significant factor. Instead, 343 only relied on ‘days of play’ internal playtesting to gather feedback. However, these crucial testing sessions were abruptly canceled before their completion, severely affecting the team’s morale. Adding to the team’s frustration, Rebs alleged that the executives didn’t review the campaign feedback until the final months before the game’s release.

Lastly, the campaign team reportedly tried to improve dwindling morale after the experience they went through with week-long ‘hackathons.’ These hackathons were able to produce promising prototypes. Unfortunately, they were eventually canceled by leadership, along with the prototypes, which led to even more morale decline.

In Rebs’ X post announcing the video’s release, several players expressed their sympathy towards the dev team and what they went through, as well as their love for the campaign.

“This is so sad. Halo is with [sic] the upper echelons of media. It should be treated and cared for as such,” one Halo player wrote. Another fan added: “Hearing all this amazes me that the campaign turned out the way it did. Props to the team for still achieving such an enjoyable experience under such circumstances.”

Despite these issues, many agree the Halo Infinite campaign launched with minimal issues and the story is still beloved by a large section of the playerbase today.