TeamXbox writes: "Frank "Frankie" O'Connor has been in a Halo orbit for quite a few years now, having moved from the game-journalism side of the game industry to the product side. content manager at Bungie. More recently, he oversaw the creation and release of the "Halo Encyclopedia" and left Bungie to take a job at 343 Industries, Microsoft's internal group that maximizes efforts on the Halo franchise. O'Connor serves as 343's franchise development director.
I was able to get some face-to-face time with O'Connor during a recent visit to the Seattle area, and he was gracious enough to sit down with us to talk about the various components that make up the Halo franchise. We also delved into some Halo fantasy, though the fan community has gone to lengths to take some fantasies and make them a reality (even if they're realities that will remain unendorsed by 343).
What you'll read below is an edited transcript from that sitdown. And be sure to come back to check out the second Q&A we did with Frankie, which consisted only of Halo-related questions from TeamXbox readers."
A 343 Industries former developer recently discussed major red flags associated with the studio due to horrible decision-making and leadership.
“they are creatively limiting” when speaking of management. That seems to be an issue for a good chunk of MS’s studios for the last decade. It’s not as harsh as “their leadership is cancer” statement but it’s really important to nurture creativity with video games and seems like an obvious issue within MS and especially 343.
Yeah but overall creativity is way down in the AAA market not many risk's are being taken.
M$ though has so many unused ip's like ninja giden and conker poor rare :(
But its all down to how much money a company is making sadly overall despite the failures of halo micorsoft is still stupid rich.
DEI is dragging profits down for those that follow it. Simple. Those narratives don't have a large market for gaming.
@DarXyde
Yes i said Ninja Gaiden though my spelling was bad MS has published it in the past but of course sega/koei also did so who owns the ip is always a debate
That being said it is another dead ip that once had a good run of games.
You talked about creativity and then proceeded to bring up old franchises just to contradict yourself immediately after.
We don't need sequels we need new stories and IPs. That's creativity.
Bro literally said DEI is what’s causing creative limitations and 343i have been selling halo short longer then that was in the conversation lol I swear these micro aggressions over inclusion with ppl trying to associate it to things failing and not the decades long issue of poor management and greedy practices is sad, pathetic and hilarious all at once.
Starting to believe these anti dei people ARE the poor management ppl trying to make themselves feel better online
Overall creativity down with the big publishers *
There fixed it for you. I've never felt there is a lack of creativity in the games I play but then again I can count on one hand the games I've bought from the big three publishers in the last five years.
Lex, look at a photo of the 90s devs, just a bunch of bros that actually look like they are having fun, guys like Cliffy were in charge. Look at the devs now, they look like they are just there for the checks and preach a message, it feels much more corporate. Gamers don't want to be preached to. I'm not against diversity, some of my favorite games are filled with people that arent just white men, games like Halo, Gears, Tomb Raider, Uncharted and many more.
@just_looken
I don't remember reading any article or hearing anything about Microsoft purchasing KOEI Tecmo or the Ninja Gaiden franchise. Microsoft does not own Ninja Gaiden they published the game that was it. And there was away to skate around the contract with Microsoft so KOEI Tecmo could bring the game to the PS3. KOEI Tecmo owns Ninja Gaiden they are the ones who can do what ever they want with the franchise.
@Notellin
Ahh another person that puts words in my mouth gets praise its like America in here.
Please anyone here on n4g point out were i said sequels?
Old ip's can be reborn same or even new characters with fresh ideas hello conker needs a fresh comeback a silly platformer game for adults.
There are so many old ip's never reused at least bungie is bringing back marathon for what ever that is worth but atleast that ip is given a second chance.
It's not like we can't see it ever since the shift to prioritise gamepass it's been all quantity over quality.
A mediocre game that ships and holds someone's attention for 20 hours is the same on gamepass as a incredible game that holds someone's attention for 20 hours.
It's clear up until recently they pretty much gave up on selling games until.they realised there's money to be made by selling games to PlayStation and Nintendo gamers that won't subscribe to gamepass. Like the marketing for halo infinite was abysmal with day one on gamepass being the only aspect pushed halo used to be a game that retailers would proudly promote and have midnight launches for but if you told me it didn't ship on a disc id believe it a physical copy of the game is almost non existent.
i know its the meta to blame gamepass
But remember there is ubisoft + ea access playstation plus collection deal then you got that nintendio game sub.
You are right in what you said but its more than Microsoft is going the way the netflix of gaming.
Hard to only blame 343. Microsoft have this franchise mentality and focus on what worked for them before and the fact that they also listen to that small loud section of their fans is a problem. Not saying they have to be like Sony or Nintendo but those companies don’t really listen outcries or demands but focus devs visions. so many Mario’s n Zelda’s out there but pretty much all different but some fans would cry so loud of Halo dares to try new things. I see some hope now with new engine, third person option etc
It's business managers like Phil Spencer butting heads with creative talented developers.
"It’s not as harsh as “their leadership is cancer” statement but it’s really important to nurture creativity with video games and seems like an obvious issue within MS and especially 343."
WTF? Didn´t MS just allowed 343i to do go through a complete team overhaul with new creative staff, new focus, new name and new engine after spent hundreds of millions on R&D for Slipspace?!
The dude, didn´t trashed MS or his former colleagues at 343i studio, he was talking specifically about the *leadership* and one person in particular, Pierre Hintze.
Then you turn and twisted his comments into some bs Xbox hit piece when in reality Xbox´s Matt Botty is encouraging Xbox studios to create *new* games and *new* IPs like Avowed, South of Midnight, Everwild, Clockwork Revolution, Contraband, Kojima´s OD, Project Mara, Fable, Perfect Dark, State of Decay, Flight Simulator, Age of Mythology, Blade, Towerborne, Gears E-Day... and more.
Then I look at Playstation´s Hermen Hurst forcing first party studios to work mostly on GaaS, Remasters, Remakes and Re-Releases and I know which company is allowing and encouraging freedom of creative for its developers.
So you can pretend and twist reality all you want, but you that I´d brought you FACTS!
Begins to spew nonsense while ignoring that many of Microsoft's ips have gone to point of not selling in high numbers anymore. Halo was a huge fail as it no longer rivals other media or competitor's ips. And lost features that used to be standard. Forza comes out and is pretty much forgotten compared to GT7. Red Fall was a fail. Star Field was a fail. And now games are coming to competitor's platforms just to pick up sales.
And YOU think it's just Pierre. Lol. What is 343 allowed to make besides Halo? There's no creativity in banging out a dead horse every couple of years. And then get worse at it to the point where they were shook up to fix a broken nightmare. Abandoning an expensive game engine instead of making it better. You don't see Naughty Dog abandoning their engine. You don't see Guerilla abandoning theirs. You don't see Polyphony abandoning theirs. They make theirs better.
Management is a problem from Phil all the way down Microsoft game studios. Or they wouldn't be getting their asses kicked consistently and selling games on other platforms. But keep on being the blind warrior. You don't restructure for doing well. It's when you're failing. Lol... Allowed... What nonsense. They were allowed.... Lol.
An ex speaking bad on their ex 😂
And they got rid of Bonnie and the other head at 343 so yes they done more then change their name.
Like why do we listen to people like this. If was so bad like he claimed why stay for 13 years lol.
have you already forgot the first game play of halo infinite then all the hype of the mp?
I say toss out this "new" game then give it a year or toss it on GP
Did you read Waltz's post?
He gives a pretty clear picture of reasons why he stayed.
You can say it's a jaded ex speaking ill of an ex, but if you finally break up with someone after a long time and give clear reasons for it, it sounds like someone trying to really commit to making it work but you hit a breaking point and as you leave, you share some insights: what kept you there that long (he says why) and what's very difficult to overlook (he says what).
If, after hearing that, people still want to work for them, no issues. But frankly, there is more evidence in support of his perspective than against it.
This.
Anyone that's worked for one company for a long time knows that it's not perfect all the time, there are always ups and downs, and there's a balance between the pros and the cons.
It's when that balance starts to tip and the cons start to outweigh the pros, I find you get to a situation where there's the 'stick that broke the camel's back', that one thing just reaffirms what you already knew - that it's time to get out, and you quit.
At the end of last year I left somewhere after 14 years, and almost every day I think about how it was turned into a complete shit show by incompetent, unprofessional leadership.
Sorry for the rant!
Seems every studio associated with Halo (Bungie, 343) is just simply toxic. Coincidence or not, I don't know but it sure explains why Halo has been underwhelming since 3.
343 Industries is hiring a Generative AI Lead to integrate AI into future projects, pushing the boundaries of innovation in game development.
Go join that team and be the part of launching a massive disappointment. Now you can help lol with AI to make it even more generic, apply now!
Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries has moved to explain a recent microtransactions price hike following a community backlash.
This smell like passing down the cost of acquisitions down to the consumer at all cost in any way shape or form 🤷🏿
@1Victor:
Given that under best conditions - i.e. no more such spending, it'll take decades, what do you expect?
Hell, they just tried to revoke GP for their employees.
And you can always count on the Xbox fans defending them and the price hike. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed Halo Infinite multiplayer
Yeah, no excuse for this garbage 343i... I haven't played Infinite's multi-player in a long while. Downloaded it again on PC only to find that the PC port is absolutely broken right now with like 3-5 minute load-in times just for the main menu. Now hearing this, I went ahead and uninstalled it lol. Wish they'd stop shooting themselves in the foot with this title.
so they made several changes how the helmets etc work, however, ive never seen anyone raising prices in a shop due to changes THEY made.
The store price hike is stupid but halo infinite mp is currently at its best. Nobody has to buy the cosmetics as they offer alot of free content.
Fuck that stupid argument. If you pay full price for a game you should get everything the game has to offer.
Last I checked the game released at full price. I know MP is free but then that makes the release highly overpriced.
@Crows
It totally was. I got suckered by Halo Infinite. All i got was a data disc and a half assed campaign.
@Crows90
Does the single-player portion of the game (what ppl bought) offer Microtransaction?
As far I recall the answer is no.
So ppl got what they paid for meaning a complete campaign that is comparable to a lot of AAA games like Resident Evil, Wolfenstein, Doom, Mortal Kombat, etc.
Now regarding the FREE multiplayer part, I agree it's a stupid move that will probably do more harm than good since the game is (despite what several N4G members would like you to believe) in good health, and like Gaming4Life pointed out no one is forcing ppl to buy theses items.
Any person who thinks that any game content created and released after launch should be free... go ahead a justify that... I'll be waiting.
I can see the argument for them selling shit immediately at launch, but even still that is weak.
You buy a game knowing exactly what is included when you pay it. You should expect nothing else for free.
@ripper
Insomniac released some free costumes for free for Spiderman
Capcom released free next gen upgrades for their Resident Evil games
No Man’s Sky became a new game from all the free DLC
Minecraft has a good amount of free dlc content.
Witcher 3 had some free cosmetics and a mission.
Overwatch has new characters that were free
Arkham Knight had some free costumes and a Batmobile skin
Some people expect free DLC because some companies actually gave free DLC.
@Petebloodyonion they were already charging for items and then they raised the prices on top of that. It wasn’t free to begin with and now they want more $$
@JZRNPG
"@Petebloodyonion they were already charging for items and then they raised the prices on top of that. It wasn’t free to begin with and now they want more $$"
And I said that raising the price was a stupid move and even made an earlier post about how it's the best way to antagonize your customers but it still doesn't change the fact that the multiplayer portion of the game is a FREE to Play game.
In this regard, Gaming4life comments stand correct and Crows comments stand wrong since Nobody paid a dime to play the game (the MP part) and no one is forcing you to buy cosmetics.
And again I totally agree with the sentiment and don't defend MS or 343I on this crappy move.
There is absolutely no reason for ever raising the price of cosmetics. They are some of the quickest assets to create but charge silly prices for them. Its greed. There's no other way to spin it no matter what the game is.
It is nice to see there is still hope for Halo Wars 2. I really liked the game and want to know what happens net in that story line. Plus the idea of using Natal with Halo Wars 2 sounds pretty cool.
I hope that some day there can be another ODST game by it self.
Plus it is good to hear that Peter Jackson still could do some thing with Halo some day with the 343 crew.
That was a nice interview it had some interesting things in it.