343 Industries was established in 2007 to head the Halo franchise after Microsoft and Bungie ended their business relationship. Since then, the company has been the gatekeeper to one of Microsoft’s key franchises and arguably the most important one to their history in the industry. However, the games spearheaded by 343 have been somewhat controversial. Some fans have been divided on changes the company brought to the series, both in aspects of gameplay as well changes to story and lore. Undeniably, the series’ popularity has taken somewhat of a tumble over the last decade, too. Whether that’s due to the quality of 343’s titles or the changing landscape of gaming is up for debate.
Sitting down for an interview Wccftech, executive producer at the studio, Kiki Wolfkill spoke openly about growing pains the company experienced after its formation – something the studio has openly talked about in the past as well – particularly in development of certain titles, such as The Master Chief Collection, which saw large scale technical issues. She thinks the company is on good track now, and feels strongly about the franchise’s potential to reinvent itself to a new generation with the upcoming Halo Infinite and the TV show set to premiere on Showtime.
“I think as a studio, you know, we’ve kind of gone through our own growing pains over the years,” said Wolfkill. “And I think we’re all really energized with the things we’re doing with the Master Chief Collection. And bringing that on the PC and sort of really moving into a more of a service model with how we deliver content and updates with MCC and really, for the first time, moving on to PC very deliberately. And then at the same time, with Infinite and the TV show, this idea of really shepherding in this new generation of Halo is really exciting for us. Like it just feels like we have all these really great pieces that we’re incredibly excited about moving forward at the same time. So that’s crazy. As developers and also just Halo fans, we are really excited about the next few years.”
Halo Infinite is the next title for 343 Industries, currently announced for Xbox One and PC. On top of that, the aforementioned Master Chief Collection will also come to PC at some point this year.