Halo Infinite's multiplayer creative director leaves 343 Industries after 11 years at the studio

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"It's been a massive honor to have been part of a game I loved so much as a player"

Halo Infinite
(Image credit: 343 Industries)

Halo developer 343 Industries has lost another senior developer.

Tom French, Halo Infinite's multiplayer creative director announced last night that they were moving on from 343i, saying they "couldn't be more proud of my time at 343" and that it had been a "massive honor to have been part of a game [they] loved so much".

"After over 11 and a half years on Halo, I step out of my Spartan armor for the last time today to head off to new adventures," French tweeted last night. 

"It's been a massive honor to have been part of a game I loved so much as a player and admired so much as a developer. I couldn't be more proud of my time at 343."

Several of their colleagues stepped up to publicly wish French well, with senior game designer David Ellis saying: "thank you for everything, Tom", and head of creative for Halo, Joseph Staten, adding: "Once a Spartan, always a Spartan. Thanks for all you've done for Halo".

The departure comes just weeks after 343 Industries lost both its lead developer on Halo Infinite’s Slipspace Engine technology, David Berger, and 343 Industries founder Bonnie Ross, who left the studio after 15 years to attend to a "family medical issue". 

Ross’s role has since been split into three parts, with production lead Pierre Hinteze taking over as studio head, head of marketing Bryan Koski becoming Halo franchise general manager, and head of business, operations, and community engagement Elizabeth Van Wyck now overseeing business and operations.

While Halo Infinite was critically successful at launch, its sporadic and delayed content updates have left fans frustrated. On the bright side, last month Halo Infinite fans found a way to access a prototype version of the series-favorite Infection mode. 

When Halo Infinite's Winter update arrived, bringing with it the series' iconic Forge creative tool, players swiftly jumped into the game to see what they could find in a new file-sharing system.

"It looks like you all got an early look at a few mode prototypes," senior community manager John Junyszek says to a fan at the time. "Since they still need plenty of work, we'll be hiding the listings - which will unfortunately invalidate any copies. When we're ready to share more about them and their release timings, we'll be sure to let you know."

Does Halo Infinite make the cut in our rundown of the very best shooter games?

Vikki Blake
Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.