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The studio head at Halo developer 343 Industries announced that he’s leaving the Halo franchise after seven years to move into independent game development.
As Halo celebrates its 15th anniversary, one more announcement arrives from the studio leading the long-running franchise. Josh Holmes, who worked as a creative director on Halo 4 and Studio Head of FPS game development at 343 Industries since then, is leaving the studio to engage in independent game development. He was one of the early leaders at 343, and has invested seven years of work on Halo.
In a blog post on Halo Waypoint, head and founder of 343 Industries, Bonnie Ross, made the announcement:
“Josh has been an instrumental leader for the Halo franchise, helping to build 343 Industries, and delivering multiple AAA games, as well as the ground-breaking sustain efforts for Halo 5: Guardians. After seven years of service to 343 Industries and the Halo universe, Josh Holmes will be leaving to work on his dream to develop independent games.”
Holmes added that he “loved every moment” while working on Halo, but that he felt the time has come to move on to something new. Holmes has yet to announce where he will continue next, whether he will join an already established independend game studio or create his own.
Taking his place as studio head of the FPS team at 343 is going to be Chris Lee, who previously worked on Halo 4 as a Lead Producer and Executive Producer on Halo 5: Guardians. Holmes said the franchise will be in great shape with Lee:
“As the head of production on Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, Chris has played a key role in the studio since our inception. He is a tremendous leader and Halo is in great hands with him.”
Regarding Halo, it’s celebrating its 15th anniversary with a special REQ pack and playlist in Halo 5. The developer has also teased the upcoming DLC pack for Halo 5, and Chris Lee said that soon, 343 will share more information about a free content update coming to Halo 5: Guardians and its Forge mode.
Halo 5: Guardians is currently available exclusively on Xbox One.
