343 Indistries has hired Eric Hewitt, a pro gamer and long time supporter for the Halo franchise, reports Gamespot. It can be safely assumed that his expertise with multiplayer gaming (and especially Halo’s multiplayer gaming) will be used in the development of the next, as yet untitled, Halo game for the Xbox One.
Hewitt said “I personally aim to focus on bringing a sense of competitive experience and knowledge to the Halo franchise.” Before this, Hewitt had also worked on creating the competitive playlist for the Halo 4 multiplayer.
“We, as a community, were blessed with some of the best competitive titles in gaming history. And even though we had a phenomenal social community as well, my expertise is definitely located in the competitive side of the community. Thus, I would love to continue that tradition that Halo has already laid out in front of us!”
Halo 4, the previous installment in the saga, and the first one developed by 343 Industries, was widely maligned by fans, coming under fire for the single player mode, and the multiplayer mode, which was accused of pandering to the Call of Duty crowd too much. 343 has since worked on the game ceaselessly, integrating community feedback into their updates, but online activity levels for the game have continued to fall to record lows for the franchise.
Halo for Xbox One will release some time this year. Stay tuned.