Microsoft has lost yet another longtime Halo developer, with Frank O'Connor seemingly leaving the company. This comes just after Microsoft lost Joseph Staten, and adds to the already long list of Halo veterans who are leaving the series and the company altogether during Infinite's troubled ongoing development.
O'Connor had worked on the Halo series since 2004, and most recently held the position of franchise creative director. The news comes from his LinkedIn and has not officially been confirmed just yet, but his profile now lists him as working at a new, undisclosed company, having moved away from Microsoft and 343 Industries.
The development was spotted by Windows Central, noticing that O'Connor's LinkedIn account had been updated to say that his work at Microsoft ends this month, having seemingly been offered a new position at a different company in March. It's not clear where he'll be working next, but it seems that he will be maintaining his title of franchise creative director. What franchise that is remains to be seen.
O'Connor wasn't among the Bungie employees who left Halo to create Destiny, as he instead stuck with Microsoft and joined 343 Industries. He was involved with multiple games, and even the recent Halo TV series.
As for Joseph Staten, he had worked on the first three Halo games before leaving alongside his Bungie colleagues. However, he returned to work on Halo in 2020, helping to get Infinite off the ground after it missed it intended Xbox Series X/S launch day release. His departure comes months after he left 343 Industries to work with Microsoft amid huge layoffs, another huge blow for Halo Infinite.
We don't know why either of the developers left. But even if we never know why, it's safe to say that things aren't great behind the scenes right now. Even if we ignore the negative fan reception to the Halo show, Halo Infinite is an issue all of its own. Sure, things have been picking up lately, but the overall sentiment in the community is that Infinite failed to live up to the hype, mostly due to its uninspiring ongoing development.
To make matters worse, 343 has lost a lot of talent over the past year. Tom French, Bonnie Ross, David Berger, Jerry Hook - these are just some of the big figures to leave 343 behind after Halo Infinite's launch. Many believe that this is more than a coincidence, suggesting that either creative differences or the stress of maintaining a live service is contributing to the departures.