Joe Staten, the former writer and creative director behind Halo has returned to Microsoft Game Studios according to a recent announcement from Microsoft. Staten had been working on Destiny, a title developed by Bungie, who actually were a subsidiary of Microsoft at one point. Microsoft released the news via Twitter. Studio manager, Mike Ybarra wrote:
“Thrilled to welcome back Joe Staten to the Microsoft Studios family,”
This information isn’t too much of a surprise, as Staten had already announced his intent to leave Bungie Studios in September of 2013. While he was at Bungie Staten’s contributions extended beyond writing, in fact, he even contributed as a voice actor in various entries in the Halo series.
Staten’s new position will be that of Senior Creative Director at Microsoft Game Studios. In a statement made by Microsoft an executive was quoted:
“Over the past 15 years at Bungie, Joseph has been a key creative force behind some of gaming’s most iconic and celebrated franchises including Myth 2, Oni and virtually every Halo game leading up to Halo: Reach,” said a Microsoft spokesperson, in a statement sent to Polygon. “Most recently, he spent the last four years working as a writer and creative director on the highly anticipated Destiny.”
Currently, Halo on the Xbox One has no release date.