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343 Industries is an American video game developer located in Redmond, Washington, part of Xbox Game Studios. Headed by Pierre Hintze, the studio is responsible for the Halo series of military science fiction games, originally created and produced by Bungie, and is the developer of the Slipspace Engine.
- 2007; 16 years ago
- Redmond, Washington, US
- Bonnie Ross
- Pierre Hintze (studio head)
Jan 21, 2023 · By Adam Bankhurst. Updated: Jan 21, 2023 3:04 pm. Posted: Jan 21, 2023 2:59 pm. Amidst rumors that 343 Industries has been taken off of lead development of the Halo franchise, the studio has...
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- Overview
- From Xbox to PC: The road to redemption for Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- Communication and transparency — and what it means as Halo Infinite nears
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Microsoft first unveiled its Xbox console two decades ago, and through four generations of hardware, one constant remains unchanged — Halo. The tentpole sci-fi shooter remains synonymous with Redmond's household gaming systems, pioneering touchstones of the first-person shooter (FPS) and still a top-seller today. Few titles find themselves deeply intertwined with a system's identity, having paved the foundations for Microsoft's future in gaming.
Halo's prestige has shifted Xbox consoles over the years, and with the Xbox One launch, Microsoft's 343 Industries embarked on an ambitious four-piece project like no other. It herded its mainline saga into a compilation of greatest hits, remastering their respective campaign and multiplayer modes around the added horsepower. But the title was far from the grand celebration once imagined, facing game-breaking issues that saw it grouped with the worst game launches to date. Yet Halo: The Master Chief Collection has still proven a stand-out achievement, with its recent comeback making history for Microsoft's creative arm.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection was delivered at a crucial time for Microsoft, as its first window to bring a "core" Halo experience to its newest console. The compilation would combine Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3, and Halo 4 into one remastered package. It wasn't always the plan — Halo 4 was first pitched as an Xbox One launch title — but with its launch in the final year of the Xbox 360, the project ushered the series onto next-gen hardware. And this all predated today's backward compatibility craze, back at a time where you'd have two consoles fighting for space in the living room.
First devised as a standalone "Halo 2 Anniversary" remake, the project soon scaled into The Master Chief Collection's ambitious premise. It would still celebrate Halo 2's decade on shelves, but also repackage the three accompanying titles. That came alongside various upgrades, including 1080p resolution at 60 frames-per-second (FPS) performance boost, and dedicated servers, all running on their engines. It would also tie each to a unified interface, shaping up as an ultimate nostalgia trip for fans.
With four best-sellers upgraded for its new Xbox console, Halo: The Master Chief Collection looked like an easy win. The Halo series shifted over 65 million units by 2015, according to Microsoft. And while today's Halo might not have the "grandeur" as the early days, it remains at the forefront of the Xbox image. Just look at the new Xbox Series X, where Halo Infinite occupies an entire side of the retail packaging, despite a launch currently scheduled for late 2021.
Skip to 2017 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection received an unexpected revival, with 343 Industries outlining a return to the project after its lengthy hiatus. It was a surprise to fans, but the upshot of a three-year internal conversation, and the first step of a multi-year journey to come. It helped bring the compilation back into the spotlight, with an extensive roadmap to accompany its return.
That revitalized effort around Halo: The Master Chief Collection solely came down to "timing and opportunity," Max Szlagor, design director at 343 Industries, tells Windows Central. It came as 343 Industries' internal publishing team, both in-house talent and external partners, concluded Halo Wars 2's "Awakening the Nightmare" DLC. While the studio toiled on Halo Infinite, interest in the collection also remained high, and Microsoft rallied a team for Xbox One X upgrades, coupled with fixes on the existing consoles.
"As a team we saw many players engaging in MCC on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis with continued feedback from the community to fix the longstanding launch issues," 343 Industries senior producer, Michael Fahrny, tells Windows Central. "We had the desire to do right by our fanbase, so we began to work through plans. On top of that, we took a step back and started looking at what we could do to not only fix the outstanding issues, but also what we could do to improve MCC all-up."
Halo: The Master Chief Collection's revival hinged on getting the Xbox One version right, with the studio blocking out fixes for the prominent issues. The studio patched up the core components, aided by the now-mature Xbox One platform, better-accommodating its multiplayer setup. It also trialed a community flighting program, integral to extensively testing changes at scale before release. That major update finally dropped in August 2018, improving stability, the multiplayer backend, and Xbox One X performance.
But that Xbox revamp also informed a more ambitious, unannounced initiative, establishing the groundwork in bringing the titles to PC. It was a considerable undertaking given the series' console roots, which meant over one year of testing until the collection migrated in full.
The expansion to PC meant fresh opportunities, opening Halo to an untapped audience and all types of new hardware. The titles would be pushed far beyond their original limitations, with PC hallmarks like ultra-high framerates, new resolutions and aspect ratios, and customizable field of vision (FOV) support. The experiences would also need to feel right with a mouse and keyboard, once designed exclusively for the controller.
Overcoming each obstacle seriatim ensured Halo: The Master Chief Collection transitioned to PC snag-free, especially crucial in light of past events. The studio once again leaned on a crucial process in its development pipeline, trialing the port with real-world users, known as "flighting."
"We would not have had the success and relatively smooth and stable launches this year without our flighting program," said Fahrny. The Halo Insider program enabled 343 Industries to test its Xbox One and PC versions through the process, adopting a staged rollout on a per-game basis, inviting more to tests in time. "Engaging the community, asking for their help, gathering their feedback, and using it to improve and iterate on our development goals has been absolutely vital in our overall process."
The benefits include "near real-time" player feedback as development continues, while allowing the team to gauge interest in its content. There's also a sense of community investment throughout the process, as the studio attempted to increase transparency with its most devoted players. For PC that also allowed for at-home compatibility testing on an otherwise impossible scale, with considerations across a spectrum of hardware, even throughout COVID-19 restrictions.
"Communication is key. When I came onto this project in late 2018, one of the things I wanted to do was be much more open about our struggles and successes as we developed and released them on PC. This has led to the community having a better understanding of the effort it takes to bring these older games into the modern era. We still have a ways to go on this, with many quality of life improvements planned, but we have made really good strides these past two years."
"Our team is now actively engaged in flighting, ongoing community dialogue, live service processes, and understanding the possibilities present in a multi-game, multi-engine product," said Szlagor. "As a team, we have grown and evolved alongside MCC and we feel good about the processes we have put in place to continue updating 343i titles."
These learnings all translate to Halo Infinite, with 343 Industries now actively drafting plans for multiple flights for later this year. The studio plans to leverage the same opt-in process, steadily expanding throughout 2021, and informing its final decisions headed into launch. For a chance to participate, Halo Insider program sign-ups remain live.
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Jan 20, 2023 · 68 Comments. Update: 343 Industries has denied reports that it is ending active Halo development at the studio. A new report has claimed that longtime Halo developer 343 Industries is being...
- Darryn Bonthuys
- PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Xbox Game Studios developer responsible for the Halo series. Based in Redmond, Washington, 343 Industries is home to the Halo Universe, and to a team of talented people dedicated to creating incredible science-fiction experiences as part of the Xbox Game Studios family.
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343 Industries | 48,183 followers on LinkedIn. 343 Industries is dedicated to making world class sci-fi entertainment experiences in the legendary Halo universe.
