Frank O’Connor, a long-time veteran of the Halo franchise, has left 343 Industries, which he founded. His LinkedIn profile shows he left the studio this month, Microsoft confirmed. O’Connor has worked with Halo since Bungie created the series. At Bungie, Frank was the community manager for the first three Halo games and two spin-offs.
Microsoft will confirm the opening of the duration of Halo franchise director Frank O’Connor, who worked on Master Chief’s games for two decades: “You thank Frank for his many contributions to the Halo franchise and wish him well going forward.”
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) April 17, 2023
O’Connor later joined 343 Industries as Director of Franchise, starting with Halo 4 and beyond. His duties included ensuring the connection of the plot of individual games and the creation of various parts of the game universe. Part of his work early on was also engaging and interacting with developers.
O’Connor’s last job is as creative director of a franchise at an unnamed studio.
O’Connor’s departure is not the first recent dismissal of a longtime studio employee. Others include studio founder Bonnie Ross, multiplayer director Tom French, and several others.
Halo Infinite director Joe Staten announced his resignation last week. He tweeted that he was leaving Microsoft before moving to Netflix Games as creative director of the streaming giant’s new AAA game and original intellectual property.
Yes, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve joined @Netflix Games as Creative Director for a brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP. Let’s go! 2/2
— Joseph Staten (@joestaten) April 17, 2023
Staten’s departure from Microsoft comes after months of uncertainty surrounding 343 Industries and the future of Halo. In January, the company moved Staten to the Xbox publishing division at the same time as cutting 95 jobs at the studio. After directing cinematography and writing Bungie’s first three Halo games, he moved to Xbox Games Studios in 2014 as Senior Creative Director. In 2020, Staten joined 343 Industries to help the studio complete work on Halo Infinite.
Summarizing the news at the moment, it can be assumed that the Halo franchise will continue, but it will be a game on a different engine from completely different people.
The Halo game franchise will continue, despite the dismissal of the studio 343 Industries – the new games of the series will already be on Unreal Engine, not Slipspace
Sources: Game Developer, Engadget
