Halo series veteran Joseph Staten is officially leaving Microsoft. He confirmed this in a tweet over the weekend and thanks his colleagues at Xbox for their understanding and support. He joins Netflix to create a blockbuster game.
A goodbye to the Xbox and Microsoft teams
Article updated on 04/17/2023 : Joseph Staten was not always in the light. While at Bungie, he served as Director of Cutscenes and wrote the scripts for missions and cutscenes. He also wrote Contact Harvest, a science fiction novel set in the Halo universe that landed at number three on the New York Times bestseller list within its first week of release.
While Bungie left the Microsoft fold and released Destiny in 2014, it was also that year that Joseph Staten joined Microsoft Studios as senior creative director. He released the novel Halo: Shadow of Intent in 2015 and wrote for ReCore (2016) and Crackdown 3 (2019).
It is in August 2020 that Joseph Staten returns to the front of the stage. He is called in as reinforcement on Halo Infinite, whose tormented development generates a one-year postponement. He reassures the demotivated and a little lost teams, and persuades Microsoft management to give the studio as much time as it needs to fix things.
Releasing a really finished campaign, even if postponed, would in any case have better press than a game riddled with problems. “There’s nothing worse for a game than to go out and have all kinds of bugs or things that will ruin the gaming experience”he said.
We will learn later that the Halo Infinite campaign has indeed undergone a “significant scaling up” compared to the initial concept; understand by this that it should have been much more ambitious, as the announcement trailer seemed to present with its different biomes.
Joseph Staten says he’s joining Netflix to create a new cross-platform AAA (big budget) original game.
In my professional life, there’s nothing I love more than collaborating with others to build worlds filled with iconic characters, deep mysteries, and endless adventures.
So today, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve joined the Netflix Games team as the Creative Director of a brand new cross-platform AAA game and original IP. Let’s go!
