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Former 343i Employee speaks out about Halo Infinite (Crunch, game over ambitious, cut content...) and Schreier has a story about 343i coming up

KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
A former 343i employee (Skybox Artist) shared some insight on Halo Infinite. The video is in mandarin, and has been translated by a user from Reeee.
  • His overall feeling on Halo Infinite: "In fact, I think the finished product will still be great. The story is a big improvement, and the gameplay is much richer, though the development cycle is too long. Don't expect it to be an epoch-making masterpiece."
  • The company executives were overly ambitious. They wanted to make Halo Infinite a semi-open world game, so the engine needed to be changed significantly. They had to make the game and develop the engine at the same time (Due to engine defects, many workflows were not ideal, though they are now much more improved than before).
  • Last year's disastrous demo was because many engine features were not fully implemented at that time.
  • For a variety of reasons, the game content compared to the original idea has been cut (same for multiplayer). "This has led to some things I've made over the years that no one will probably ever see."
  • The team at 343 (especially the low-level employees) works very hard, and many of them have experienced working overtime until the early hours of the morning in the past few years. (Crunch confirmed :(
  • Now he works at Certain Affinity, still doing some HI outsourcing work, and he feels good to be out of 343's baggage.
Video (around 10 minutes):

 
I find it funny that people hate this guy, he just reports what people tell him and this seems to hurt feelings.

It would be far more interesting if Schreier was found to be making things up.

In terms of 'crunch', if it keeps happening continuously, project after project - I see it as a failure of top level management and of course it happens in many industries.

Top level management should either be setting more realistic deadlines or doing far more to remove tedious processes so their teams can be as productive as possible.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Newsflash Game development On most triple AAA high profile franchises fucking sucks For a number of the employees at a studio.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
I find it funny that people hate this guy, he just reports what people tell him and this seems to hurt feelings.

It would be far more interesting if Schreier was found to be making things up.

In terms of 'crunch', if it keeps happening continuously during every project, I see it as a failure of top level management and it happens in many industries.

crunch is s as part of software development. It’s apart of any job that has deadlines. It’s like a hiring someone to dig a ditch that complains they don’t like to dig all the time.
 
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THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Well its good to hear it's probably be good.
I dont get the whe semi open world thing, I could care less as long as the game was good. Supposedly last of us 2 was semi open world but they kept you on rails anyway and really me zero difference to the game.
 

ethomaz

Banned
I find it funny that people hate this guy, he just reports what people tell him and this seems to hurt feelings.

It would be far more interesting if Schreier was found to be making things up.

In terms of 'crunch', if it keeps happening continuously, project after project - I see it as a failure of top level management and of course it happens in many industries.

Top level management should either be setting more realistic deadlines or doing far more to remove tedious processes so their teams can be as productive as possible.
He do actual jornalistm.
Something rare in the industry with Grubbs and Warriors.
 

SantaC

Member
crunch is s as part of software development. It’s apart of any job that has deadlines. It’s like a hiring someone to dig a ditch that complains they don’t like to dig all the time.
Exactly where are the sob stories when i work overtime for my company? Todays gaming journalism is just a bunch of soyboys.

Remember the good old IGN and Gamespot crew? Like they gave a shit if people had to work hard on a game.
 
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yurinka

Member
Sounds realistic. People crunches, specially on a delayed AAA with huge expectations and responsability. And when there is a delay, often stuff gets cut trying to reduce and compensate the delay.
 
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Krappadizzle

Gold Member
A former employee is talking to notoriously click-baity Kotaku....Yeah no ulterior motives their.


giphy.gif



Kotaku always get's their Halo news right too so often:

yhdclu089rt61.jpg
 
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I have a feeling a lot of the bad stories (including this one) came before Joe Staten was brought on board. Seems like things are running much more smoothly now, and they've had the extra development time so hopefully the crunch is not as extreme now.
 

NickFire

Member
Is the ant-crunch agenda just a slacker's master plan? I mean, if you think about it, someone who covers games will save a lot of time scaring companies from working hard enough to ship any. 🤔
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Ah, here was go again. More "crunch is bad" pieces that sound awful to everyone outside of the AAA industry, because they don't realize that crunch is very much a standard thing in AAA and has been for decades.

It's so annoying.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I find it funny that people hate this guy, he just reports what people tell him and this seems to hurt feelings.

It would be far more interesting if Schreier was found to be making things up.

In terms of 'crunch', if it keeps happening continuously, project after project - I see it as a failure of top level management and of course it happens in many industries.

Top level management should either be setting more realistic deadlines or doing far more to remove tedious processes so their teams can be as productive as possible.

I don't hate JS; but he over-uses "crunch."
 

ultrazilla

Member
A former 343i employee (Skybox Artist) shared some insight on Halo Infinite. The video is in mandarin, and has been translated by a user from Reeee.
  • His overall feeling on Halo Infinite: "In fact, I think the finished product will still be great. The story is a big improvement, and the gameplay is much richer, though the development cycle is too long. Don't expect it to be an epoch-making masterpiece."
  • The company executives were overly ambitious. They wanted to make Halo Infinite a semi-open world game, so the engine needed to be changed significantly. They had to make the game and develop the engine at the same time (Due to engine defects, many workflows were not ideal, though they are now much more improved than before).
  • Last year's disastrous demo was because many engine features were not fully implemented at that time.
  • For a variety of reasons, the game content compared to the original idea has been cut (same for multiplayer). "This has led to some things I've made over the years that no one will probably ever see."
  • The team at 343 (especially the low-level employees) works very hard, and many of them have experienced working overtime until the early hours of the morning in the past few years. (Crunch confirmed :(
  • Now he works at Certain Affinity, still doing some HI outsourcing work, and he feels good to be out of 343's baggage.
Video (around 10 minutes):



GIVE ME SOME SUGAR BABY!

o6rfrRx.png
 

nikolino840

Member
Jason Schreier is like an ambulance-chasing lawyer. EVERYTHING he does it for drama.

How about some interesting articles about game development? Not everything has to be a negative hit piece. In any case, this doesn't sound so bad.
And the next week changing idea like the articles of naughty dog and bend studio
 

Nyxir

Member
I find it funny that people hate this guy, he just reports what people tell him and this seems to hurt feelings.

It would be far more interesting if Schreier was found to be making things up.

In terms of 'crunch', if it keeps happening continuously, project after project - I see it as a failure of top level management and of course it happens in many industries.

Top level management should either be setting more realistic deadlines or doing far more to remove tedious processes so their teams can be as productive as possible.
>wHy DoNt wE hAvE acTuAl JoRnaLizM?!?!
>Continue to shit on the only actual journalist we have because he is “””“woke””””
 

Larlight

Member
So even the dev knows this game is not going to live up to the hype that it received huh? Guess anyone could have seen that coming a mile away after last year's demo. But, funny to see the people who worked on it say it themselves.
 
People ask too much of Halo. Its best days are in the past. It can't be exactly what it was, because the market has changed, gamers have changed. So Halo must also change. If the new concept doesn't hit it with today's audience, then they need to scratch it all and do a full reboot. Only don't put 343 in charge of it if they don't succeed this time.
 

EDMIX

Member
I couldn't be any more tired of "crunch" controversies.

I'm more tired that its happening in the industry then the stories that exist about it from reporters.

Why get mad at getting informed? Be mad that its happening at all, not at the fact that its being brought to light. Who does that help?

Wandering Leopard Wandering Leopard Agreed 100%. I never waste energy caring about the person who writes it on if I like them or not, its completely irrelevant. Would be like me arguing about a reporter cause he doesn't go to the same church as me and disregard all information being given or something.

People bitch and cry waaaaaaay too much about this person, then they do the very topics that are being talked about that should be concerning to the whole industry and gaming community. I never let a personal dislike for someone overtake all information being given. Shit, I disagree with many on here DAILY, that doesn't mean in every fucking thread I start arguing and disagreeing with those same people cause we disagree about something personally. Many can't separate that shit
 
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People ask too much of Halo. Its best days are in the past. It can't be exactly what it was, because the market has changed, gamers have changed. So Halo must also change. If the new concept doesn't hit it with today's audience, then they need to scratch it all and do a full reboot. Only don't put 343 in charge of it if they don't succeed this time.
Infinite is a soft reboot of the series. Literally nothing we’ve seen so far has any hard connection to Halo 4 or 5. Their plan with this is to update it over the next decade so even if the game is just alright at launch, it can become more refined down the line.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I'm more tired that its happening in the industry then the stories that exist about it from reporters.

Why get mad at getting informed? Be mad that its happening at all, not at the fact that its being brought to light. Who does that help?

Because much of the time it hardly sounds like anything to get upset about? Like if what this guy said is construed as "crunch" I'll laugh.. occasional overtime for some people?

These people are insanely well paid too, as are all Microsoft employees.

There are loads of people that specifically seek out development jobs that offer overtime.. it's a perk.. because it pays insanely well.
 
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mcjmetroid

Member
The question I have though is why show that demo? None of this would probably have come out, it was probably the biggest mistake of all.
 

Smether

Member
People ask too much of Halo. Its best days are in the past. It can't be exactly what it was, because the market has changed, gamers have changed. So Halo must also change. If the new concept doesn't hit it with today's audience, then they need to scratch it all and do a full reboot. Only don't put 343 in charge of it if they don't succeed this time.
I think you've nailed it. The controls, online multiplayer innovations, AI, marketing partnerships, are just some of the characteristics that made Halo, particularly 1 and 2, one of the most important game franchises. But that was before Modern Warfare, Titanfall 2, battle royals and countless other FPSs that have changed the game along the way.

I have high hopes for infinite, as a long time fan of the series it would be nice to see it grow up like God Of War did, but last year's demo, and today's new story, aren't inspiring confidence for it to be anything but more of the same.
 

wipeout364

Member
People always complain about crunch but I wonder how many people on this board have assignments and projects related to work or school finished well before the deadline? Please raise your hands, I certainly won't be raising mine.
 

Fare thee well

Neophyte
His account seems pretty fair-handed, not entirely negative or positive.

But I do feel bad for so many of the hands-on games developers out there in even worse work conditions. You just want to see them have more time for their creation and get paid better for it somehow.

I suppose you could say this about a lot of industries. In my industry I know it falls apart as soon as there is too much upper management, upper oversight, or bloated middle-management. You get too many people without any experience dictating unreasonable goals for your teams and massive pay-grade disparities.
 
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