Halo Infinite’s free-to-play multiplayer released to massive praise last November, with developer 343 Industries celebrating a 20 million player launch, the biggest in franchise history. Much of that success was owed to Halo Infinite’s more traditional design philosophy, with gameplay and visuals purposefully paying homage to the original trilogy.
The game’s multiplayer lead, Andrew Witts, played a big role in crafting this refined legacy experience. With Halo Infinite now halfway through its first season and details on season two revealed, Witts announced his departure from 343 on Twitter.
“It’s been an honor leading the MP design team over these years,” Witts said. “Thank you to all Halo fans for your feedback over the years. We made this game for you.”
While Witts is a veteran with 10 years of industry experience under his belt working with the likes of Ubisoft and ArenaNet, he said he is “going to take some time off to relax and recharge” after three years working on Halo before seeing what’s next.
He leaves Halo Infinite as the game sits in a precarious position, trying to retain its player base during an extended season one. A recent update announced that campaign co-op is delayed to a yet-to-be announced date in the middle of season two and the team at 343 acknowledged that particular community critiques, such as a lack of player progression, are high on the priority list going into the game’s future.
Patches throughout season one have made strides toward improving the online experience, but 343 stressed that further work is being done to make the networking and anti-cheat the best it can be. Season two aims to get Infinite into a healthy spot with new maps, game modes, and events, but its release in May is still a couple months away.
