After a career spanning almost 20 years supporting Master Chief, Halo’s creative director Frank O’Connor looks to have left 343 Industries and Microsoft, although no official announcement has been made.
Frank O’Connor, who has been Halo’s creative director for the best part of 20 years, looks to have left Microsoft, following a number of exits from the studio since 2022, including Halo’s head of creative and Xbox Publishing lead Joseph Staten, who left the company last week.
Halo Infinite might have just lost its creative director
While it’s yet to be confirmed, Frank O’Connor’s LinkedIn profile has been updated (via Windows Central), and now says that his time as Halo’s creative director ends in April. The executive is yet to address his departure publicly or give any details about where he is heading next, so keep an eye out for an update on this story. O’Connor has worked on the Halo franchise since 2004, authoring the first Bungie Weekly Update during Halo 2 when Bungie was still developing the Halo games. He then moved over to 343 Industries to continue working on the franchise when Bungie left Microsoft to work on Destiny in 2008 and has had an input on the story development, creative, and narrative aspects of many Halo projects, including the Halo TV show.
343 Industries has been bleeding staff since the launch of Halo Infinite at the end of 2021, with the studio losing its founder and studio head Bonnie Ross after a 15-year career with the company, Halo’s multiplayer creative director Tom French left in December, Joseph Staten left last week, and now Frank O’Connor looks to have departed. On top of that, around 10,000 employees were cut by Microsoft earlier this year, which affected many developers at the Halo studio. The question does need to be asked: Is it time for Halo to go?
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