LogInA year after being called "creatively limiting cancer," Halo's higher-ups appear to have not changed in the slightest.
On October 11, 2024, almost exactly a year ago to the day, we reported on Will Waltz, a veteran developer who spent over 12 years working as Senior R&D (Principal) Animator at 343 Industries – now known as Halo Studios – calling the studio's leadership "cancer" and "creatively limiting" individuals who somehow always "find a way to organizationally make it un-fun to work there."
Fast-forward 365 days, and it seems Halo's higher-ups haven't changed at all, with a new report from Rebs Gaming and the departure of Halo Studios' Art Director Glenn Israel after a 15-year tenure painting a picture of a company still being in turmoil behind the scenes.
Regarding Israel's departure, in a LinkedIn post announcing it, the former Art Director noted that he'll be able to share more about why he won't be working on the Halo franchise next year – presumably due to NDAs he had signed.
While an Art Director with 17 years of total experience on Halo – fifteen at 343 and two at Bungie before that – leaving just weeks before some major Halo-related news are expected to drop was eyebrow-raising in and of itself, what attracted more attention, however, was the "message" shared by Israel in his post, which said "no illusion of security nor promise of wealth or fame or power is worth trading away your health, your dignity, your ethics or values."
Many interpreted this as a major red flag, hinting at either health-damaging crunches at Halo Studios, Israel facing harassment for his worldview and opinions, or possibly both.
In response to the Art Director's exit, independent video game journalist Rebs Gaming published a report saying that Halo Studios allegedly has "leadership issues" at the moment, citing an anonymous source familiar with the company's inner workings. Rebs further noted that of the nine people from the studio's Art Team who worked on Halo Infinite, only one remains with the studio – Donnie Taylor, also an Art Director with 17 years of experience working on Halo.
With Rebs' video, Israel's message, Waltz's "cancer" remarks from last year, and Engadget previously reporting that many developers are dissatisfied with the quality of Halo Studios' in-production games, it sure appears that something troubling is indeed happening under the hood. 80 Level has reached out to Halo Studios' employees to find out for sure and will provide an update once we hear back, so stay tuned.
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