High-profile Halo departure has us worried for the franchise

Halo is haemorrhaging staff like it's nobody's business. It's never been clearer that Halo Infinite wasn't exactly the timeless live-service Halo game that 343 Industries wanted it to be.

As fans have been dropping off exponentially month after month, it's obvious that the battle pass updates and fresh upgrades to the game haven't been enough to keep Infinite as the future's Halo game.

Alas, the glory days of Halo 3 are gone, and despite 343's best efforts, they're not coming back. Now, it looks like the game's collapse is causing more and more departures.

Halo's franchise director appears to have left 343 Industries

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Another key member of the Halo team appears to have left 343 Industries, being yet another huge hitter for the franchise to bow out.

It has been noticed by Windows Central that Frank O'Connor, franchise director of the sci-fi shooter series, has updated his LinkedIn page with a date cap on his time at the company. Although unconfirmed, it indicates he has left as of April 2023.

There has been no formal word from O'Connor that he has departed the company, but this certainly seems like as good a confirmation as any. His stepping down from the company follows the departure of the likes of Director Joseph Staten and Multiplayer Creative Director Tom French.

What's going on at 343 Industries?

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Your guess is as good as ours when it comes to what's actually happening behind the scenes at the company, but it's definitely not looking good for the Halo team.

Back in February, it was revealed that plans for Halo Infinite DLC was scrapped in favour of a mysterious Project Tatanka, thought to be a new series game to replace Infinite - which came in the wake of an announcement of massive layoffs at the company.

The team is also rumoured to be leaking money faster than its staff, meaning the future of the franchise rests (again) on the next big title. Things aren't looking good for Halo, with 343 Industries poised to make the same mistakes as banking on Infinite. That doesn't seem particularly sustainable.